Collapsed silos were 20 years old

Cape Town - 151201 - Collapsed Swellendam silos. Photographer: Supplied

Cape Town - 151201 - Collapsed Swellendam silos. Photographer: Supplied

Published Dec 2, 2015

Share

Cape Town - An investigation into how 14 silos holding tons of canola seeds collapsed is under way.

The collapse of 14 of 21 silos at the Sentraal-Suid Koöperasie agricultural co-operative in Swellendam has left the canola company scrambling to find storage for 11 500 tons of seed.

No-one was injured when the structures, filled to capacity, caved in.

The silos were 20 years old, chief operating officer Henk De Beer said.

De Beer said they would investigate the event.

“We are fortunate no one was injured when the silos collapsed. Usually there are some staff in that area but it is a relief there was no one there at the time.

“At this point we are not sure whether it was a structural issue that caused the collapse but we will be conducting our own investigation into what caused it,” De Beer said.

“These silos were constructed in 1995 but I don’t think this caused the collapse. We have other silos constructed at the same time and they are still functioning.

The price of canola oil would not be affected by the spill because they had 85 000 tons of seeds available, but De Beer said it would take the agricultural co-operative up to three weeks to get back on track.

[email protected]

@ladynikki2

CAPE TIMES

Related Topics: