ROME

Italian emergency teams were still at work on Monday evening, trying to rescue a worker trapped for hours under rubble following two partial collapses of a medieval tower in central Rome, at a walking distance from the Colosseum.

"We are trying to get him out alive but the situation is complex because of the risk of further collapses," firefighters' spokesman Luca Cari told reporters in the Italian capital.

Three people at work in the Torrei dei Conti were rescued alive by firefighters, who rushed to the scene on Monday morning with three emergency teams and two ladder trucks. Police cordoned off the area overlooking Rome’s central Via dei Fori Imperiali, crowded with hundreds of tourists and on lookers.

Regional Governor Francesco Rocca said one of the rescued workers was hospitalized in serious but not life-threatening conditions, while two others suffered minor injuries.

The first massive collapse happened at around 11.30 am local time (10.30 GMT) and was followed by a second one, about one hour and half later, as the rescuers were already at work. Some of them were involved in the second collapse, which forced rescuers to temporarily halt the operations using a mobile ladder, TV images showed. Firefighters said the rescue team was unharmed.

Local authorities confirmed that one of the workers was trapped under the rubble, but was responsive and communicated with rescuers. The trapped worker survived the second collapse, but operations to pull him out were "very long and difficult because of the elevated risks of new collapses," Rome police chief Lamberto Giannini said in the afternoon.

Italy's top officials, including Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, were at the scene.

The Torre dei Conti, built in 1238 by Pope Innocent III, was undergoing renovation work after years of abandonment. Rome’s prosecutors have opened a probe into the collapse, Italian media said.

The 29-meter tower is located close to the Colosseum, one of the Eternal City's most famous attractions, halfway along the usually tourist-crowded Via dei Fori Imperiali.

The medieval building was originally twice as high, but was its height was reduced after being damaged by earthquakes in the 14th and 17th centuries.

The tower was currently involved in a EU-funded four-year renovation project expected to end next year, according to local authorities.