Occupational homicide claims two lives in shipbreaking facility

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - File

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Two workers have lost their lives as a result of breaking of a rope during the dismantling of a ship in a shipyard in İzmir's Aliağa.

The rope broke during the dismantling of a passenger ship in the shipbreaking yard in Aliağa's Atatürk Neighborhood on Sunday (September 12), claiming the lives of workers İlyas Bıdık and Veli Bal.

The personnel of the facility called an ambulance and the police after the incident. The paramedics arrived and detected that Veli Bal had lost his life. Wounded in the incident and receiving the first medical intervention at the scene, İlyas Bıdık was taken to the Aliağa Public Hospital.

Referred from Aliağa to İzmir, Bıdık lost his life on the way to the city. The dead bodies of İlyas Bıdık and Veli Bal were taken to the morgue of the İzmir Forensic Medicine Institution for autopsy.

Four workers died in two months

The Labor Party (EMEP) Aliağa District Organization has released a written statement about the occupational homicides that have been occurring in the Aliağa Shipbreaking Facilities, briefly saying, "Operations must be stopped in this workplace where four workers have lost their lives in the last two months; an investigation must be launched without waiting for the complaint of the workers' families and the responsible ones must be penalized."

The statement of the party has also noted that the ships to be dismantled at the facility must be freed from all types of dangerous materials and this must be inspected by independent agencies.

"Shipbreaking on the sea must be banned, only the companies building shipbreaking docks with international standards must be permitted. Workers must inspect their working conditions via their own organizations and there should be guarantees that allow them to halt work in cases of dangerous situations," the EMEP Aliağa Organization has added further.

174 occupational homicides in August

According to the report of the Health and Safety Labor Watch, at least 174 workers lost their lives in August 2021 and at least 1,494 workers lost their lives in the first eight months of 2021. (KÖ/SD)