This archive report was first published on 8 August 2020.
On Friday evening, a silo bin collapsed at the Portside Freight Terminals, a private firm, killing two people and injuring six others.
James Mwangi Gathedo, 44, and Vikash Singh, 35, were installing a machine for discharge and storage of fertiliser when the accident occurred.
The incident has been confirmed by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director Rashid Salim, who stated that the engineer from the private firm was installing the fertiliser bagging equipment.
"We regret to confirm that an accident occurred inside the port at shed number 7/8 when some engineers from a private firm were installing a fertiliser bagging equipment," a statement from KPA said.
However, the Dock Workers Union has called for the immediate suspension of fertiliser offloading and removal of the heavy machinery, claiming it was a recipe for disaster.
Union general secretary Simon Sang alleged that the private firm was allowed to operate the terminal without proper inspection and certification by the safety department of KPA and quality engineers.
"We suspect the cause of the collapse of the equipment is poor quality of the work which was never inspected and certified by the safety department of KPA and quality engineers," Sang said.
