One of Milan’s iconic squares, was filled with symbolic coffins by Italy’s second-largest union to highlight the issue of workplace fatalities.

The protest in Piazza La Scala put 172 cardboard coffins on the ground to remember all of the workers who lost their lives last year in the northern Lombardy region.

The UIL labour union has stressed the need for both the government and businesses to take greater measures to safeguard workers.

Enrico Vezza, the leader of the UIL union, described the day as one of anger and anguish, highlighting that behind each coffin lay the identities of individual people. He noted that 41 workers had already died in Lombardy this year.