The Department of Mineral Resources is yet to give approval for the continuation of work at Eskom’s Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme where six people were crushed to death last Thursday.
This happened after an eight-ton movable platform, which had been on a 24-degree incline, came loose and rolled back on to them.
Operations at all other Eskom sites at which work had been halted to “reflect on the tragic incident that occurred at the power station construction”, has since resumed.
Four of the injured were discharged the following day while three are still in the hospital’s intensive care unit in a stable condition having suffered severe upper body injuries.
They were working in a 970m-long tunnel and had been constructing it for more than a year and were nearing the top when tragedy struck.
Emergency teams had to use sniffer dogs, medical helicopters and dozens of paramedics, to retrieve the injured and the bodies of the dead.
Eskom engineers were also brought in to begin with the investigation.
This hydroelectric power station is expected to generate 1 332MW and has an energy storage capacity of 21 000MWh.
It is due to go live at the end of next year.
Eskom’s acting spokesman, Andrew Etzinger, said the platform on which the team were working came loose and rolled down the tunnel and fatally injured the workers who were in its path.
An investigation into the cause is still under way.
Eskom said it was in contact with the families of the deceased although they could not, at this stage, disclose any further details.
The parastatal could also not confirm if the three critically injured were in fact Filipino nationals while those who were slightly injured were two South Africans, an Italian and a Filipino.
These workers were among 3 387 workers building South Africa’s third hydroelectric facility.
The R25 billion project is expected to be the biggest in South Africa, with 14km of tunnels. - The Daily News