One Crane Mechanic Dead; Another An Amputee in Crane Disc Brake Failure (Antwerp, BE – 27 June 2018)
News coming to Blueoceana Company from a friend in U.K., reveals that a crane mechanic was killed and another lost an arm at the D.P World-run marine terminal in Antwerp (Waaslandhaven) yesterday (27 June 2018).
What we understand, is that a lifting appliance (an automatic stacking crane) required repair and had its power supply shut down. A container was apparently still connected to the crane’s spreader, and the workers were attempting to lower it to the ground manually. In that process a hoist brake drum ruptured, propelling fragments at high speed. It is alleged that one of the workers was struck and killed by those fragments; the other suffered a severed arm.
The media account provided below (a very basic translation from the original Flemish) provides a bit more in the way of information, but nothing conclusive as to cause can be conjectured at this point in time.
Link to Media Account: In the case of an accident at work, Twenty one year old dies in Waaslandhaven (062818)