Freak accident man dies
by mahmood on 14/01/10 at 7:59 am
A HOTEL technician died early yesterday morning from injuries he suffered in a freak accident involving projector equipment.
Rafique Adam Qazi, from India, had been in a coma at the Salmaniya Medical Complex’s (SMC) intensive care unit ever since the incident at the Mercure Grand Hotel, Seef, on Tuesday.
The GDN exclusively reported yesterday that he was found hanging from the ceiling after getting his head and hands trapped in an overhead cavity. It is understood he was hanging for 20 minutes until being found by a housekeeper who fainted after alerting colleagues.
However, Mr Qazi would still be alive today if he had only switched off the power to the electrical equipment before working on it, Labour Ministry occupational health and safety acting head Hussain Al Shami said yesterday.
Initial reports suggested his head and hands got stuck in the ceiling cavity in which a projector screen was housed, but it emerged yesterday that it was actually where the projector equipment is stored.
Mr Al Shami described the incident as one of the strangest deaths “in the history of Bahrain”, but suggested a lack of training and supervision could have been major factors.
“This was absolutely a lack of training and supervision,” said Mr Al Shami.
“If there were trained officials to supervise the worker, the accident wouldn’t have happened or at least he could have survived if the accident was not so severe.
“It is one of the strangest accidents in the history of Bahrain.
“I don’t understand why no one advised the worker to switch off the electricity.
“The worker should have switched off the power supply before working on such electrical equipment.”
Hotel officials yesterday paid tribute to Mr Qazi and staff had already started collecting money to send home to his wife and two children, in Mumbai.
General manager Karim Zaki said the incident had taken the life of one of the hotel’s best workers.
“Our sincere condolences to his family, whom we called and informed about the bad news of his death this morning,” said Mr Zaki yesterday.
“He was a good worker and management, administration and staff members have already started raising funds for Mr Qazi’s family.
“We are also trying to finalise all the documents to repatriate his body.”
Meanwhile, human resources and training manager Mohammed Najeeb said he would be widely missed.
“He was an excellent worker and I believe all the staff will miss him,” said Mr Najeeb.
“We are now focusing on the legal formalities and trying to settle his payments.
“All staff members will contribute for his family and some already started collecting money.”
Mr Qazi, 40, was doing maintenance work at a meeting room at the Mercure Grand Hotel when the incident happened at around 6.30am on Tuesday. It is believed that Mr Qazi accidentally pressed a button causing the equipment to retract into the ceiling – trapping his head and hands. Firemen had to be called to release Mr Qazi, who joined the hotel in August 2008 but has lived in Bahrain for the past six years. His body is now at the SMC morgue awaiting repatriation.
Source: GDN
