Italian dairy boss is crushed to death by 15,000 wheels of Parmesan-style cheese at his factory

• Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, was tragically found dead after 15,000 cheese wheels collapsed on top of him

The boss of an Italian cheesemaking company was crushed to death after 15,000 wheels of cheese buried him in his own factory. 

Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, was tragically found dead by firefighters after a shelf broke in his factory in the northern Lombardy region on Sunday at around 9pm and caused a deadly domino effect that brought down a total of 15,000 wheels of Grana Padano.

The wheels of the cheese, which is very similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, can each weigh up to 40 kg. 

118 rescuers, made up of firefighters and paramedics, were forced to work through the night to find the body of the cheesemaker, who was working inside the warehouse at the time of the shocking incident.

Firefighter Antonio Dusi from Bergamo told AFP that the rescuers spent a gruelling 12 hours moving ‘the cheeses and the shelves by hand’ before the grandfather’s body was finally found at around 9am on Monday.

He’s been making cheese all his life, starting out as a farmcropper on his own dad’s farm before buying his own farm in 1997 (pictured)

Around 15,000 wheels of cheese collapsed after one shelf started a deadly domino effect in his factory (pictured)

 Cheesemaker Giacomo Chiapparini (left) leaves behind his wife, two kids and several grandchildren

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Chiapparini, who leaves behind his wife, two children and several grandchildren, was trying to control a robot that automates the cleaning process for the wheels of maturing cheese. 

But Italian cops are still investigating, and are trying to reconstruct exactly how the tragedy played out

Giacomo’s daughter, Mary, previously told a dairy industry group that he had worked in cheesemaking for his entire life. 

He worked his own dad’s farm as a sharecropper with his brother before eventually branching off in 1977 and buying his own farm. 

He then spent several decades winning awards for his cheesemaking skills.

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