Three workers fell to their deaths during repair work at a power plant in the city of Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East, local authorities said Thursday.
Regional investigators launched a criminal investigation into possible safety violations at the site following the incident at the Vladivostok TPP-2 power station. Besides the three deaths, two other workers were injured and are receiving medical care, investigators said.
The Primorye region branch of Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said the workers were employed by an independent contractor but did not name the company. Prosecutors said they were looking into whether the contractors complied with labor laws and safety regulations during the repair work.
Photos and a video from the scene of the workplace accident showed a square-shaped opening in the base of a smoke tower, where construction scaffolding was standing.
Local media, citing an anonymous source, reported that the workers, said to be from Kyrgyzstan, had died after construction material crushed them, not because they fell. Journalists identified the repair company as a contractor for Russia’s state hydropower monopoly RusHydro.
The two surviving workers were hospitalized in serious condition, the report added, citing regional health officials.
It was not immediately possible to verify that report.
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