Five
foreign workers have been crushed to death at a metal recycling plant.
The
dead men are all originally from The Gambia, and some are Spanish nationals, who
emergency services said were working when a 15ft (4.5m) concrete bay wall
collapsed on them.
Blocks
weighing about one-and-a-half tons each came down, along with tons of scrap
metal being stored in an outside yard at the vast recycling site in a heavily
industrialised part of Birmingham.
All
five workers were pronounced dead at the scene following the incident at
Hawkeswood Metal Recycling in the Nechells area of the city at about 8.40am.
The
victims have been named locally as Saibo Sillah, aged 42, Ousman Jabbie,
Mohammed Jagana, as well as Alimamo Jammeh and Bangaly Dukureh, who were both
from Aston, in Birmingham.
All
the men were married with young families; Mr Sillah had three-year-old twins,
and Mr Jagana had a baby.
Friends
of Mr Jammeh also revealed his wife and children were due to arrive in the UK
on Sunday and had not yet been told of the tragedy.
Members
of the community said they were hard workers on minimum wage who had been
employed through a recruitment agency.
Prime
Minister David Cameron has spoken of his shock at the tragedy, and said: “My
thoughts are with the families of those involved.”
Prayers
have been said at local mosques while the president of the city’s Gambian
Association based in Ladywood said the community had been left “devastated” by
the deaths.
Ansumana
Barrow, 63, who works in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, said the association
would be meeting to make sure the bereaved families - many with young children
- get whatever help they need.
A
sixth man injured in the accident is currently in hospital after suffering a
leg injury, although it is not thought to be life-threatening.
Friends
of the wounded man said he rang them from hospital with news of the deaths.
In
a briefing at the sprawling site, which is bordered by a railway line,
Detective Superintendent Mark Payne, of West Midlands Police, said: “We believe
the victims are foreign nationals. We believe the men are from Africa.”
During
a press conference at the site, Mr Payne said a joint Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) and police investigation was now being carried out to establish
the cause - warning that the process could take weeks.
He
added one line of inquiry would be to find out whether “any issues of
negligence or malpractice” may have contributed to the collapse.
Mr
Payne said: “We’re simply trying to recover the bodies of the men and do it in
a way which will help understand exactly how that wall came to fall down.
“Clearly
we are investigating together with the HSE, whether there are any issues of
negligence or malpractice that have contributed to that wall falling down.”
Emergency
services have accounted for all staff on site, and said there was no prospect
of any survivors under the many tons of rubble.
It
is hoped the bodies will be recovered overnight from the “extremely
challenging” scene.
Mr
Payne said: “It’s a wall constructed of blocks that weigh about 1.5 tons each -
concrete blocks.
“That
wall was supporting a body of scrap metal.
“It
appears that that wall has collapsed on top of the men and then the scrap metal
behind the wall has fallen on top.”
He
added that the men had been working at the site which employs dozens of staff
at the time they were killed.
Mr
Payne said the incident went rapidly from being a rescue situation to a
recovery operation, which was “likely to take the rest of the day”.
Manka
Sawo, who was among about 30 members of the community gathered at the site’s
entrance for news, said the surviving victim had rung to tell him what
happened.
The
news spread quickly through the tight-knit community, with friends of the dead
men telling how the night before they had feasted to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.
He
added: “I knew one of the men very closely; yesterday we celebrated Eid
together. It’s very, very sad.”
Mohammed
Kamara, community leader, said he had visited the home of Mr Jagana family, and
described how the man left behind a wife and baby.
Landlord
Lang Dampha, 48, from Aston, said Mr Jabbie had been lodging with him a week
after coming from Spain and had immediately got a job at the recycling centre,
through an agency.
In
an emotional tribute to his other friend and lodger Mr Jammeh, he said: “He is
a perfect gentleman, down to earth, loves his work.
“He’s
kind and generous, and always smiling.”
He
said Mr Jammah was married with children, who before the accident had arranged
to join him with plans to travel to the UK on Sunday.
Mr
Dampha said: “I was working and I got a call, and they said ‘five of our guys
have died’. I can’t believe it.”
Another
man Kabiro Daboe, 40, from London, said Mr Jammeh had watched the Wales vs Portugal game with him yesterday, before driving his friend to mosque.
Community
leader Mr Barrow said Mr Jammeh had been at his house after he got back from
prayers marking the end of Ramadan.
He
found out about the deaths when one of Mr Jammeh’s relatives rang to tell him.
Mr
Barrow said: “It is so, so sad. We are devastated.”
He
added the focus would now turn to supporting the men’s families.
Mr
Barrow went on: “We’re a hard-working community, and these men just came here
to feed their families.
“It’s
going to be very hard for those families now - that’s the problem.
“As
a community now we will meet and see how best to gather the people, to help
them.”
The
industrial accident left rescue crews facing a “significant tonnage” of
concrete and metal, which partially trapped the sixth victim before he managed
to escape from the rubble.
A
West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said it became apparent that on
arrival nothing could be done to save the five other victims.
The
injured man was later taken to hospital by air ambulance.
West
Midlands Fire Service assistant chief fire officer Gary Taylor said: “Once the
police have finished their initial examination of the scene, our absolute
priority will be to ensure that the bodies of those who have lost their lives
are recovered in the most timely and safe way possible, and with the utmost
dignity and respect.”
A
spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “The HSE is aware and
supporting the police in its investigations into the incident.”
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