Derince grain silo explosion: Six individuals will stand trial, facing 2 to 15 years in prison
The Kocaeli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has prepared an indictment against six individuals regarding the explosion on August 7 at the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) silo in Derince, where two people lost their lives and seven were injured. The Kocaeli 3rd Heavy Penal Court has accepted the indictment.
According to the indictment, the head manager of the silo, K.D., deputy manager K.Ö., deputy chief B.B., engineer working at the silo A.S., subcontracting firm owner O.T. are defendants, while the subcontracting firm's field representative İ.Ç. is listed as an injured party defendant.
The prosecution has requested prison sentences ranging from two to fifteen years for the defendants on charges of "causing the death or injury of multiple individuals through negligence."
The prosecution included an expert report in the indictment. The report states that welding work was being carried out on the 6th floor of the silo at the time of the explosion, and sparks from this work fell onto the 5th floor, igniting the fire. The report also mentions that the initial ignition of the dusty environment led to a "primary explosion," and the elevators with dense dust inside acted as chimneys, spreading the flames to every area.
"Dust explosion"
Again according to the report, there was no indication of an explosion within the concrete silos where the grain was stored.
The report stated that the explosion occurred due to "dust explosion" caused by grain dust as a result of the failure to meet the necessary requirements at the TMO Derince port silos, the failure to address deficiencies, the lack of regular annual maintenance in 2023, the failure to take necessary precautions, the failure to prevent the formation of dust in the environment during work, allowing dust accumulation on the floor, and the failure to perform regular dust cleaning.
Suspects claimed that dust cleaning was being conducted
The prosecution stated in the indictment that the head manager K.D., deputy manager K.Ö., deputy chief B.B., subcontracting firm owner O.T., and the subcontracting firm's field representative İ.Ç. are primarily responsible, while the engineer A.S. is partially responsible for the explosion.
The head manager K.D., whose statements were included in the indictment, stated that he did not accept any of the faults attributed to him in the expert report, claiming that the annual general revision maintenance of the silo was regularly performed every year.
K.D. claimed that the last maintenance was carried out in May 2022, stating, "The fault cannot be attributed to me for not having the general maintenance and revision done. Moreover, routine dust and all kinds of cleaning were done daily."
The deputy manager K.Ö. mentioned that he was on leave on the day of the explosion, asserting that they had conducted more detailed maintenance on the dust collection system in 2022 and 2023 compared to previous years.
In the explosion that occurred on August 7, 2023, at the TMO Kocaeli Main Directorate port silos in Derince district, two people lost their lives, seven were injured, and 13 out of 60 silos were damaged. (HA/PE)