Italian President Sergio Mattarella visited Marcinelle during his State Visit to Belgium, accompanied by Their Majesties King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. The President laid two wreaths at the monument honoring the victims of the 1956 tragedy at the Bois du Cazier coal mine, where 262 miners, mostly Italian, lost their lives.
During the visit, Mattarella, together with the King and Queen, toured the former mine site and greeted survivors, victims’ families, and the local Italian community. “The memory of this tragedy is everlasting, but it also serves as a lesson in the history of labor,” he remarked.
On August 8, 1956, a fire at the Bois du Cazier mine claimed 262 lives across 12 nationalities, including 136 Italians seeking work and a better future. This event inspired the establishment of the National Day of Italian Labor Sacrifice Abroad, observed annually on August 8.