Survivor recounts the moment a crusher suddenly turned, killing 7 people in Yen Bai

Mr. Tuan recounts the terrifying moments after the accident that killed 7 colleagues.

On the morning of April 23, reporters were present at the Trauma Department of Yen Bai General Hospital. This is where the victims who were lucky enough to survive the particularly serious work accident at Yen Bai Cement and Mineral Joint Stock Company were being treated, which left 7 people dead and 3 injured.

With a face still dazed and sad lying on the hospital bed, Mr. Nong Van Tuan (in Tan Nguyen commune, Yen Binh district) confided that on the afternoon of April 22, a team of 10 people carried out periodic repairs and maintenance of the factory's grinding machine.

In the morning, everyone still went to work together, chatting happily. After lunch and resting, at 12:30, Tuan (29 years old) and 9 workers performed routine maintenance on machine number 3 of the four crushing machines here.

According to the previous assignment, 7 people went inside the machine to replace the worn tiles, while 3 people including Tuan, Mr. Pham Minh Duong (27 years old, in Dai Dong commune, Yen Binh district) and Mr. Pham Ngoc Long (43 years old, in Viet Cuong commune, Tran Yen district) were assigned to repair the outside to screw the tiles in place.

As usual, one of the team radioed the control center to cut off the power supply to the machine. Only when the confirmation signal was given did the team begin repairs.

About 25 minutes after the group started working, the crusher suddenly started working again. Thousands of iron balls inside were thrown out. Three workers on the top of the machine were thrown to the ground from a height of 5 meters. Tuan suffered a sprained leg, while Long and Duong were seriously injured and lay still.

After a moment of panic, suddenly thinking of the 7 colleagues still in the engine compartment, Tuan jumped up, hopped to the control room about 20 meters away to cut off the power. "The incident happened too quickly. There was no one in the control room at the time, and there were too many buttons, so I pressed the green ones. After a while, I saw the machine cage slowing down and then stopping."

3 victims are being treated at Yen Bai Provincial General Hospital

"Until now, we still don't know why the machine started working again. About half a minute after the incident, the machine stopped working, but everyone inside died under the pressure of the machine," Tuan said.

Still shocked and heartbroken by the passing of many colleagues, Tuan shared: "The brothers in the operation and maintenance team were all very close friends. I was lucky to survive, but until now I am still very panicked, unable to sleep all night because of my sadness for my unfortunate brothers."

Lying in the next room with his arms and legs in casts, Mr. Pham Ngoc Long said "I just want to forget today". Before the crusher started working, Mr. Long was assigned by the person on duty to stand on the roof and wait for his colleagues to push the screws from inside to tighten them. After only installing a dozen tiles, the machine started working again, pushing him, Tuan, and Duong to the ground.

On the evening of April 22, Yen Bai province leaders directly came to direct the incident and visit the families injured in the work accident.

He was seriously injured but still managed to get up and shouted: "Turn off the machine", then passed out. Afterwards, people from the factory arrived at the scene and took the three injured people to the Yen Bai General Hospital for emergency treatment.

With more than 4 years of experience in mechanical repair, Mr. Long said "just a few seconds of the crusher rotating can kill someone, let alone 30 seconds".

Of the three injured, Mr. Duong suffered a broken leg and a fractured spine and is currently receiving treatment. The victim’s family said that the patient was in a state of panic all night and could not sleep. He only dozed off briefly due to extreme fatigue.

The case is currently being investigated and clarified by the authorities.

LikeSatisfiedreported that at around 1:00 p.m. on April 22, during the repair of the stone crushing line at the Cement Factory, an accident occurred, killing 7 people and injuring 3 others.

Immediately after receiving the information, the police force arrived at the scene, cordoned off the area, conducted an investigation, and promptly took the injured to the emergency room.

The deceased victims were identified as: Nong Van T. (Xuan Lai commune), Nong Van Th. (Xuan Lai commune), Mai Thien H. (Xuan Lai commune), Le Manh C. (Yen Binh commune); Nguyen Danh M., Phan Ngoc L., Pham Xuan Tr. (Thinh Hung commune).

On the same afternoon, the People's Committee of Yen Bai province decided to support 18 million VND for each family of the deceased victim to take care of the funeral and 4 million VND for each injured person being treated at the hospital. The Prime Minister issued a telegram directing the authorities to investigate the cause of the accident, visit and support the families of the victims, and at the same time carefully review the regulations, standards and procedures for mining and processing minerals for cement, promptly overcoming limitations.

Yen Bai Cement and Minerals Joint Stock Company said that the unit decided to initially support each deceased victim with all funeral expenses and 200 million VND for each victim's family. In addition, it committed to subsidizing each victim's children with 5 million VND/month until they turn 18 years old.

At the same time, the company sent groups of staff to each family to take care of the funeral. As for the injured workers, the company supported each worker with 50 million VND.