An Italian collector of historic war artefacts has been killed after a First World War explosive device detonated in his garage workshop.
Attilio Frare, 56, died shortly after 1pm on Wednesday, 14th January, in Guia, a hillside hamlet in Valdobbiadene, in Italy’s Treviso province, after a blast that residents said shook the surrounding valley.
Attilio – a decorator by trade – was alone in a small tools shed/garage next to his home when the ordnance exploded as he handled it.
He reportedly kept a large private collection of military relics in the outbuilding, including shells, grenades and artillery parts recovered over time from the Piave area, once a major WWI front line fighting zone.
Investigators believe he had been trying to remove propellant or powder from a WWI-era artillery shell, described as likely Austrian manufacture, when something went wrong and it detonated in his hands.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, while the interior of the workshop was heavily damaged, and part of a chimney structure reportedly collapsed.
Attilio’s partner, described in reports as Brazilian and said to have been at home at the time, raised the alarm after hearing the explosion.
Paramedics, firefighters, carabinieri and bomb disposal specialists attended and cordoned off the property, with the garage later seized as the area was made safe.
Police reportedly found additional ordnance stored inside the workshop and specialists were expected to return to catalogue and assess what was still active.
Attilio had previously come to the attention of authorities over the illegal possession of explosives, according to reports.
