Fatalities result from UK scrap yard accident

A collapsed bunker wall brought a large flow of scrap metal and concrete blocks onto workers at a Birmingham, United Kingdom, scrap yard in early July, causing five fatalities.

An online report by the BBC news service says the fatal accident occurred at Hawkeswood Metal Recycling Ltd. in the Nechells district of Birmingham  Thursday, 7 July.

Emergency crews who reached the scene of the bunker collapse pronounced five workers dead on the scene, according to the BBC. The report indicates a sixth worker scrambled free before being trapped, though he did suffer a broken leg.

An ambulance crew spokesperson is quoted by the BBC as saying that a collapsed wall was spotted by the crew upon its arrival.

The dead workers reportedly all carried Spanish identifications and were all believed to have been born in the African nation of Gambia. They were reportedly working in an area adjacent to the bunker when it collapsed. Heavy equipment had to be used to recover the men’s bodies from the pile of material that cascaded over them, according to the BBC.

Hawkeswood Metal, also known as Shredmet, reported to investigators and to the media that the 12-to-15-foot-high wall had been in place for two years and was not known to have sustained any damage during that time. The firm also has expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.

Concerned members of Birmingham’s Gambian community gathered near the scene of the accident, according to the BBC, with many of the onlookers telling the news agency they knew one or more of the victims, who they described as hard working people, at least one of whom was nearly ready to resettle his family in the Birmingham region.