Cement Bag Kills Labourer At La

A 39-year-old labourer died last Thursday after a bag of cement fell on him at a construction site at La, a suburb of Accra. The bag of cement dropped on his head from the eight floor of the luxurious La Beach Towers located on the La Beach road, close to the La Palm Royal Hotel. The deceased, Joseph Tetteh Oku Tagoe, was part of workers employed by M. Bardifotti & Sons, a construction company putting up the 17-storey towers within a 1.2 acre land which would comprise 64 apartments in each tower, four penthouses and sky villas. This brings to two, the number of deaths so far on construction sites within the same vicinity. On October 9, 2013, David Amedzro of Antartic Construction Limited fell from a crane and died while attempting to fix a crane for the construction of a storey-building near the one under review. Joseph Tagoe, according to the police, was severely injured after the cement fell on him. He was rushed by his co-workers to the La General Hospital for treatment but died on admission. Briefing Daily Guide, Chief Superintendent Frank Adufati, Accra Regional Crime Officer said the incident occurred around 11:00am last Thursday, October 17, 2013 but the workers reported the death to the police around 3:00pm that day. Joseph had been employed by M. Bardifotti & Sons to work as a labourer on the towers currently under construction close to the sea and adjacent the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel. According to the police, the workers had parked some bags of cement on the eighth floor of the building while the labourers were also on the ground working. All of a sudden, a bag of cement which was not properly placed dropped from the eighth floor and landed on the head of Joseph, who was then busily working with his colleagues. Joseph was severely injured and was rushed to the La General Hospital for treatment but he was pronounced dead on arrival. The workers later lodged a complaint to the La Police around 2:30pm Thursday. The body was then photographed and later sent to the Police Hospital for autopsy by the police. Police are still investigating the matter to ascertain the real cause of death.