Chiara Nava He had enthusiastically chosen to continue the family farming business, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father. But while working on his farm, he was the victim of a terrible accident . Marco Benati , 28, died last Friday in Ronco all'Adige, in the province of Verona, after becoming entangled in the rollers of a manure spreader he was cleaning.
The tragedy shocked the local community and rekindled awareness of workplace safety, especially in the agricultural sector.
The young man had just finished a job in the fields and was busy cleaning the machinery when something went wrong. For reasons still unclear, he got caught in the rollers of the agricultural machinery and was unable to free himself.
The alarm immediately triggered rescue operations, but there was nothing that could be done for the twenty-eight-year-old.
The 118 operators, the firefighters from the Caldiero detachment and the Carabinieri from the local station arrived on site and carried out the necessary investigations to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident.
Marco Benati dies at 28 while cleaning agricultural machinery.
The tragedy occurred on the family farm in Ronco all'Adige. Marco Benati had decided to dedicate himself to working in the fields, continuing a tradition passed down through generations, first carried on by his grandfather and then by his father.
Last Friday, after completing a field operation, the young man was behind the manure spreader doing some cleaning. That's when the accident occurred: the twenty-eight-year-old got caught in the machine's rollers, trapping him with no escape.
The exact circumstances of the incident are still being reconstructed. The Uil Agroalimentari union has also emphasized the need to await further investigations before determining how the accident occurred.
Marco Benati's death adds another victim to the long list of fatal workplace accidents and brings to the forefront the risks associated with using agricultural machinery, especially during maintenance and cleaning.
The unions raise the alarm: "People continue to die at work."
Following the tragedy , trade unions expressed their condolences and concerns. Daniele Mirandola , secretary of Uil Agroalimentari, expressed his sympathy to the young man's family, highlighting how the agricultural sector continues to be among those most exposed to fatal accidents.
" We don't know how it happened and we're waiting for the investigation ," he said, while stressing that the workplace safety problem remains particularly serious. Mirandola cited INAIL data, according to which in the first nine months of 2026, there were 589 fatal accident reports , an increase of 19 cases compared to the same period in 2025.
The union representative then launched an appeal to all those responsible for safety management: from those who operate the machinery to those who maintain it, to those who organize and supervise the work.
CGIL Verona also expressed its condolences through Thomas Bonfante, general secretary of FLAI CGIL, and Raffaello Fasoli, general secretary of CGIL Verona. The union representatives called the death of a 28-year-old man while carrying out his work unacceptable.
According to the CGIL, agriculture in the province of Verona remains one of the sectors most exposed to serious and fatal accidents, also due to the presence of dated machinery, pressing work rates, inconsistent training, and insufficient controls.
Hence the call to strengthen inspections and invest more in prevention and training, even within small farms. " Safety cannot be a cost to be reduced ," the union representatives reiterated, emphasizing the importance of protecting those who work in the fields every day.