Electrician, 63, dies in Lebane cold storage accident
A cold storage worker in Zdeglovo, close to retirement, fell off a forklift while working on electrical installations. Whether he was electrocuted has not been established.
A 63-year-old electrician from Leskovac has died after an accident at a cold storage plant in the village of Zdeglovo near Lebane, when he fell off a forklift while working on electrical installations. The accident happened at around 10 a.m., and an autopsy is expected to establish the cause of death.
What happened at the cold storage plant in Zdeglovo?
The man had worked at the plant for many years and was close to retirement. According to media reports, he climbed onto a forklift to work on the installations, and after a crackling sound and a spark he fell from the vehicle and lost consciousness.
One of the workers who happened to be at the plant described the scene to the portal Jugmedia:
“He climbed onto the forklift and was doing something with the installations. Something popped, not loudly, and a spark flew. He fell off the forklift and was unconscious.”
The same eyewitness added that no one had been injured at the plant before.
Was the worker electrocuted?
There is no confirmed answer yet. Informer and Srbija Danas, which reported the news on October 19, describe the accident as an electric shock. Alo, by contrast, writes that it has not been reliably established whether the man fell after being shocked or for some other reason.
Another person at the plant confirmed to Alo that the worker had climbed onto the forklift, but said he only heard about the fall itself. He said there is no reliable information on the cause: “Whether he fell because of an accident or was shocked first, I really don’t know.”
The competent authorities are to establish the circumstances, and the autopsy the cause of death.
How was help provided, and when did police arrive?
The worker received first aid at the Emergency Center of the General Hospital in Leskovac. From there he was sent by ambulance to the University Clinical Center in Nis, but he died on the way, even though a doctor and a medical technician were in the vehicle.
Police were notified only at around 1 p.m., about three hours after the accident.
What does the owner of the cold storage plant say?
Alo’s newsroom contacted the owner of the plant, but he declined to talk. “I can’t talk, you understand me, I have other things to do,” the owner said, and then ended the call.
Sources disagree on the day
Informer and Srbija Danas say the accident happened on October 19, at 10 a.m. Alo writes that the electrician died on Sunday, which would be October 18. The reports we reviewed contain no official statement from the authorities, so the date cannot be verified for now.
The media have not published the man’s name. The available reports also do not say whether the prosecutor’s office and the labor inspectorate were notified of the accident.
