Two killed as crane collapses at Tororo cement construction site
Mar 21, 2017
The dead all Kenyan nationals whose identities could not be established by press time died instantly when the crane they were repairing was blown off by the wind.
PIC: From left Werikhe, Oloka and Mwambu touring the accident scene on Thursday
Two people have been confirmed dead after a crane collapsed as result of the storm accompanied by heavy down pour at Tororo cement Industry construction site.
The dead all Kenyan nationals whose identities could not be established by press time died instantly when the crane they were repairing was blown off by the wind.
Three other people that included Fredrick Egesa electrical engineer, James Masumba and Moses Okware both mechanical engineers were critically injured and were rushed to St Anthony hospital.
The victims were all working with a Kenyan construction firm under taking the construction and expansion of Tororo cement industry.
Officials from National organization of trade union [NOTU] on Thursday rushed to the site to establish the condition under which the workers were working in.
However the team established that victims suffered because of an inevitable accident and wasn't associated to poor working conditions as it had previous stated.
Wodulo Mwambu the Tororo cement personnel and administration manager said they have tried as much to reduce on accidents through continuous training and sensitization of workers in addition to provision of protective gears.
Mwambu said all its workers are insured and are adequately compensated in case of any minor accident but ruled out the construction accident victims as part of their workers as earlier stated.
Mesilamu Oloka the general secretary of Uganda building workers union regretted the accident but asked Tororo cement management to prevail over the contractor to ensure that their workers are trained on safety measure.
‘'This purely an accident and we are saddened by the loss of this workers. I do appeal to the factory management to prevail over the constructor to ensure that workers are provided with safety gadgets and are sensitized'' Oloka said.
Peter Christopher Werikhe the secretary general of national organization of trade union [NOTU] appreciated the factory for having good safety measure saying that the accident should act as a lesson to the factory management to intensify their sensitization on safety measures.
‘'Very many times we are seen as people who are only agitating for salary increments, when he come here like today we also look at safety precautions and do inspection of the working places'' Werikhe said.