SAFTENG NOTE 1: Two (2) of those being prosecuted were risk prevention technicians; one was a company employee, and one was a contractor
SAFTENG NOTE 2: This silo explosion is very similar to the recent silo explosion in ME that took the life of a Firefighter
Three (3) executives from an industrial wood processing and manufacturing company accept jail and disqualification for the fatal 2019 fire with one deceased and three (3) seriously injured. The trial for the 2019 fire at the facility began seven (7) years after the events, following a partial agreement between the Prosecutor’s Office and three of the defendants. They have accepted sentences of two (2) years in prison and one and a half years of disqualification for a crime of manslaughter and three of injury by negligence, thus assuming their responsibility in the accident, in which a worker died, and three others were seriously injured. The convicted are:
1) the legal representative of the company,
2) the director of the factory, and
3) a facility labor risk prevention technician
None of them will go to jail, as the sentences do not exceed two years, and the suspension of sentence execution has been requested and granted. The trial continues only against a fourth defendant, a CONTRACTOR labor risk prevention technician who has not reached any agreement with the prosecution. His defense had requested dismissal of the case, but the court denied the request.
In addition, a fifth investigated party, a representative of the company responsible for developing the prevention plans, has finally been acquitted after the private prosecutions withdrew the charges filed against him.
May 2019: origin of the accident
The proceedings focus on the fire and subsequent explosion registered on May 25, 2019, at the Tableros Hispanos facilities. The fire started in one of the factory’s silos and subsequently spread to other chip storage areas.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, after extinguishing the flames, the firefighters expressly warned the company’s managers not to tamper with the affected silo for at least 24 hours, to avoid a possible reactivation of the fire. However, the prosecution maintains that this instruction was ignored and that the newly arrived night shift workers were ordered to proceed with the manual emptying and cleaning of the silos.
During these tasks, a new explosion occurred inside the fine shavings silo, presumably when oxygen came into contact with still active embers. The flames engulfed several workers on an elevated walkway.