Five die as wall collapses at UK yard

United Kingdom – Five workers at a UK scrap yard have been crushed to death following the collapse of a 15-foot metals partitioning wall.

The incident happened on Thursday morning at Hawkeswood Metal Recycling in Birmingham. The bodies of two of the men were recovered later in the day but as efforts continued to locate the other three under the tonnes of rubble and metal, emergency services said there was no prospect of finding any survivors. A sixth man injured in the collapse was taken to hospital with a broken leg.

According to detective superintendent Mark Payne of West Midlands Police, a joint Health and Safety Executive/police investigation is being conducted to establish the cause of the collapse in a process that could take several weeks. In business for more than four decades, Hawkeswood Metal Recycling processes more than 500 000 tonnes per year of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as handling other recyclables. The company has stated that it will co-operate fully with the investigation.