This archive report was first published on 8 August 2020.
On Friday evening, a tragic accident occurred at the Portside Freight Terminals in Mombasa, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuring six others.
James Mwangi Gathedo, 44, and Vikash Singh, 35, lost their lives when a silo bin they were using to offload fertiliser collapsed.
The incident also left six others with serious injuries, including Hassan Munyaka, Keya Buria, Rebecca Maraga, Morris Oluoch, Laik Ahmed, and Bibi Rahma, who were rushed to Coast General Hospital Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director Rashid Salim confirmed the incident, stating 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," KPA said in a statement.
However, Dock Workers Union general secretary Simon Sang has called for the immediate suspension of fertiliser offloading and removal of the heavy machinery, claiming it was a recipe for disaster.
"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.
