Three miners died on Tuesday, crushed by the tank that overturned in the Jilț Sud Quarry. Another 8 are in hospital at this time. The fourth miner died in hospital, having been seriously injured. The miners were on their way to work when the tragedy occurred.
According to the first information, the tanker that overturned in the Jilț Sud Quarry was carrying 25 people, oxygen tubes, electrical kit, all the mechanical equipment necessary for repairs. The team of 25 people had just intervened at mining excavator 05. And according to some information from the first hours after the accident, the tanker they were transported with would have run out of brakes and thus crashed into the quarry, there being a lot of mud in the area.
The Territorial Labor Inspectorate (ITM) Gorj announced that it has started a accident investigation from the Jilț Sud Quarry within the Oltenia Energy Complex.
The police established that inside the van involved in the accident at the Jilț Sud Quarry, pnear the transported workers, at the time of the event, there were also two metal tubes of acetylene. The announcement was made on Tuesday evening by the Gorj County Police Inspectorate (IPJ).
After the accident, an operative team was set up at the IPJ Gorj level, made up of policemen from the Criminal Investigation Service, the Forensic Service, the Motru Municipal Police and Section 3 of the Motru Rural Police, which went to the scene to carry out investigations.
“From the first investigations carried out, the police established the fact that today, around 1:30 p.m., a 51-year-old man, an employee of a commercial company, while driving a van in the premises of the Jilţ Quarry, in which employees were transported of the mining career, lost control of the van when passing over a bridge set up over the conveyor belts, overturning at a difference of about 3 meters from the ground. The police established the fact that, at the time of the incident, inside the van, in addition to the workers, there were also two metal tubes of acetylene”, the representatives of IPJ Gorj reported, reports agerpres.ro.
As a result of the event, nine people were injured and three men died, aged 29, 38, and 48, respectively.
Other details about the conditions in which the accident occurred were reported by a former union leader.
“It’s a disaster what happened. There is no gravel there, it is soaked earth, and the machine being heavy, it skidded. In the car, with the workers, all the accessories necessary for the intervention were stored, including oxygen tubes, from what I understood from my colleagues. When crossing a footbridge, the car overturned, said Ion Popescu, former leader of the Renaştea Union from the Oltenia Energy Complex to which the quarry belongs, who retired in September 2022, according to ziare.com.
In addition, a criminal case was opened against the driver of the car in which the workers were transported. The driver was transported to the hospital, in order to receive medical care, and biological samples will be taken to determine his blood alcohol level.
“In the case, a criminal file was drawn up in terms of committing the crimes of culpable homicide, culpable bodily injury and failure to take and respect legal safety and health measures at work. The investigations are being continued by the police, under the supervision of the competent prosecutor’s office, in order to accurately establish the causes and conditions in which the event occurred”, according to IPJ Gorj.
