Workers used bare hands to help reach the dead at ArcelorMittal plant The three employees were found dead hours after the explosion 19 February 2021 - 20:10 By Mpumzi Zuzile and Shonisani Tshikalange Three workers were buried under rubble after an incident at ArcelorMittal s plant in Vanderbijlpark. Image: SUPPLIED: NUMSA
“When we retrieved the first body, I had hope that my two colleagues were still alive.”
These were the thoughts of an ArcelorMittal employee as piles of rubble were cleared, some of it with bare hands, after the collapse of a 90-metre stack at the steel producer s plant in Vanderbijlpark on Tuesday.
“Hours later, when we retrieved the second body in a worse state than the first one I lost energy and hope,” the employee told TimesLIVE.
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Three ArcelorMittal workers found dead after explosion 18 February 2021 - 08:22 Image: VELI NHLAPO
The three workers who were trapped in the rubble after an explosion at ArcelorMittal in Vanderbijlpark in the Vaal have been found dead.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA said the news of the three workers passing have left their families devastated.
“They have been waiting and anxiously hoping that their loved ones would be found alive. Unfortunately that was not to be. We send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who have passed away.
“As Numsa we are calling on the department of employment and labour to embark on a detailed and thorough investigation into the cause of this incident. We have a long painful history with ArcelorMittal and its brutal management which has demonstrated time and time again that Black Lives do not matter,” said Numsa’s Sedibeng’s regional secretary Kabelo Ramokhathali.
Labour department to probe Vaal plant explosion 18 February 2021 - 20:09 Image: Robert Tshabalala
The department of employment and labour will launch an investigation into the explosion at the ArcelorMittal plant in Vanderbiljpark, Vaal, south of Johannesburg, that left three people dead.
On Wednesday about 2am, a portion of a 90m stack at one of the company’s coke batteries failed and fell onto the control room in which the three people were working. Workers were then trapped under the rubble. This resulted in an explosion at the plant.
Speaking to Sowetan earlier, minister Thulas Nxesi said officials from his department and in the province, including the chief inspector in the labour department, visited the plant and met with the company’s management and various workers’ unions.
Commission asks national government to step in urgently 17 February 2021 - 12:46 By TimesLIVE A resident who lives near the Vaal River takes a picture of the Vaal Dam filled to 100% capacity on February 9 2021. Raw sewage has plagued the Vaal River system for nearly 15 years. Image: ALON SKUY
The Vaal River system, on which approximately 19 million people depend for drinking water and commercial use, is polluted beyond acceptable standards.
This is the finding of the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which set up an inquiry into long-running problems in the river system.
“In the absence of a timely and effective response from the multiple spheres of government, Gauteng’s most vital water resource may very well have been irreparably damaged,” said the commission.
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