
Displaying items by tag: Death
Death from quarry blast at cement plant in Laos
07 October 2019Laos: An explosion at a quarry related to a cement plant near Phonemany village, Nam Bak district in Luang Prabang province has killed one person and injured over 20. The nearby village was affected by the blast causing damage to houses and vehicles, according to Radio Free Asia. A villager alleged that the Chinese-owned plant never warned locals of the blasting schedule and that the explosion was larger than usual. Khammany Inthirath, Minister of Energy and Mines, said that the government had sent a team to investigate what happened.
Rai Group grinding plant general manager found murdered
26 September 2019Kenya: Chattan Vyas, general manager of a Rai Group-owned grinding plant in Kenya’s Rift Valley province, has been found dead in bed on the morning of 22 September 2019 under mysterious circumstances. The Standard has reported that the attending pathologist confirmed the cause of death as strangulation, noting also that Vyas had been bound.
Canadian court fines Lafarge Canada US$0.3m for worker’s death
25 September 2019Canada: Lafarge Canada has received a US$0.3m fine for failing as an employer to ensure that safety measures and procedures in the workplace were upheld. This follows the 2017 death of an employee who fell from a corroded catwalk at the company’s Beachville quarry.
Three killed as Dangote Cement lorry strikes bus
29 August 2019Nigeria: A laden Dangote Cement lorry suffered a brake failure and ran head-on into a bus in Ikorodu, Lagos State on 27 August 2019, killing the bus driver, a trainee bus driver and one passenger. All 69 other passengers were injured.
The Punch has reported that the Dangote vehicle was carrying 45t, significantly over its rated capacity. The company has commenced an investigation of the incident.
Disaster near LafargeHolcim quarry
29 August 2019Zimbabwe: A blast at Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe’s Sternblick quarry on 15 August 2019 has killed one person and injured another.
Agence Ecofin has reported that two women were at home on Pangoula Farm, Harare, when debris from the quarry entered through the roof, striking 36-year-old Shupikai Chatsina, who lost her life instantly, on the head. She leaves behind a husband and five children. The second woman, Ms Chatsina’s aunt, is recovering in hospital.
LafargeHolcim’s contractor Afri Mining did not follow established blasting procedures. The disaster is under police investigation.
Spain: A 29-year old man has died in a failed attempt to base jump at Cemex España’s former integrated plant at San Vicente del Raspeig near Alicante. The deceased wanted to film a nocturnal descent from a 50m tower at the site for his social media channel, according to the El País newspaper. However, his parachute failed to open during the incident. In June 2018 Cemex was denied permission to demolish the San Vicente del Raspeig plant.
Former Italcementi chairman Giampiero Pesenti dies
25 July 2019Italy: Giampiero Pesenti, the former chairman of Italcementi, has died at the age of 88. The grandson of one the brothers who created the company in 1906, he took a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan and then started working for Italcementi in 1958. He became chief operating officer and chief executive officer (CEO) before becoming its chairman, according to Reuters. He was known informally at Italcementi as ‘Engineer Giampiero.’ Notably, the Italian cement producer purchased Ciments Francais in 1992, under his leadership, greatly increasing its size. Italcementi was purchased by Germany’s HeidelbergCement in 2016.
UAE: Ahmed Abdullah Al Noman, the chairman of Sharjah Cement & Industrial, has died. He had been in the position since 1993, according to Bloomberg. He was also the chairman of the Bank of Sharjah. The company operates an integrated cement plant as well as paper sack and synthetic rope businesses.
Basant Kumar Birla dies in Mumbai
04 July 2019India: Basant Kumar Birla, chairman of BK Birla Group, has died at the age of 98 in Mumbai. He is survived by his grandson Kumar Mangalam Birla, the head of Aditya Birla Group, the owner of UltraTech Cement, amongst many other family members, according to the Times of India.
Part of the influential Birla family of industrialists, Basant Kumar Birla originally started working at Kesoram Industries before turning the business into a conglomerate with concerns in cement, engineering, medium-density fibreboards, pulp and paper, rayon, shipping, tyres, tea, chemicals and other sectors. BK Birla Group reported a turnover of US$2.4bn in the 2018 – 2019 financial year. At present the group now comprises five major companies - Kesoram Industries, Century Textiles & Industries, Century Enka, Mangalam Cement and ECE Industries - and several smaller subsidiaries.
Image of Basant Kumar Birla by Biswarup Ganguly CC BY 3.0
Former Lafarge chief Bertrand Collomb dies
29 May 2019France: Bertrand Collomb, the former president of Lafarge, has died at the age of 76 years. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the building materials company from 1989 to 2003 and was later its president until 2007.
Collomb joined Lafarge in 1975 after various roles in government. He became the CEO of its North American subsidiary in 1985 before leading the company as a whole. Notable achievements during his tenure included the acquisition of the UK’s Redland and Blue Circle. Lafarge also set up a Chinese joint-venture in 1994 before many of its Western competitors.