Two Chinese Foreign Workers Dead in Alberta

Two dead, four injured in roof collapse at job site north of Fort McMurray (Roof-Collapse)

FORT MCKAY, Alta. (CP) _ Two workers were killed and four others injured Tuesday when a roof collapsed at a Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. job site north of Fort McMurray.The company said in a news release that the 2:30 p.m. accident involved a roof support structure at the tank erection site of the Horizon Oil Sands Project.“All authorities have been notified of this incident,‘‘ the company said in a news release.“The site has been immediately secured and injured workers are receiving appropriate medical attention by the on-site medical staff.‘‘A worker told CTV Edmonton it was windy and the large tank just flew apart.“I heard this horrible noise, just crashing steel, smashing, crashing, and I looked over and I saw bunch of steel flying, these huge towers they use for holding up the tank roof,‘‘ the unidentified worker said.All workers were evacuated from the site, the worker said.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said he received a few phone calls from union members at the site.“They told us there‘d been an accident on the Horizon site involving temporary foreign workers from China brought in by CNR or one of their contractors to work on a big tank farm on the Horizon site,‘‘ McGowan said.“Our understanding is that one of the big tanks collapsed and in the process at least two workers were killed and as many as four were injured.‘‘McGowan said he did not know what caused the collapse.“That‘s all we got before our members‘ cell phones were confiscated by management.‘‘Barrie Harrison, communications officer for Occupational Health and Safety, also said it‘s not clear what happened.He could not confirm if the workers were from China and did not know their ages or gender.

(Click here to read more)