- We are still investigating, we do not rule out that they are thieves, commented the police after four people were arrested, three of whom fled after the tunnel collapsed over the fourth.
Formally, the suspicions concern resistance to an official and damage to public property.
But Italian newspapers note that the tunnel was dug near a bank ahead of the August 15 long weekend, when large parts of Rome are emptied of people.
- We all thought that the people there were renovating the place.
So we didn't suspect anything and we didn't hear any noise either, says one of the residents in the area about the activity around the premises that have just been rented out to new shop owners.
See the images from the rescue operation in the clip above.