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When two workers at a Langley, B.C., mushroom farm failed to emerge from a small, below-ground pump house on Friday, their co-workers followed human nature instead of safety protocols.
One by one, four men followed their co-workers at Farmers' Fresh Mushrooms Inc. into the pit in a dangerous bid to save their colleagues.
The industrial accident left three dead while two others remained in critical condition Sunday. A sixth man was released from hospital on Saturday.
Police identified one of the deceased as Ut Tran, 35, of Surrey. Michael Phan, 35, of Langley, remains in critical condition. Names of the other victims have been withheld at the request of their families.
A man breaks down after three people died at a Langley, B.C., mushroom farm on Friday evening. The victims, and three other people who were injured, were overcome by noxious fumes. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)
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Now investigators are hoping to speak to the only victim who is currently able to answer questions – the traumatized worker who has been released from hospital.
“He wasn't in any shape to talk to us, so we'll give him a couple of days,” John Eldridge, manager of fatal and serious investigation with WorkSafeBC, said in an interview Sunday.
“We're hopeful he'll be able to give us quite a bit of information. Your best witnesses are the people who were there.”
Investigators were still unable to enter the pump house Sunday for fear of deadly gases, but they had stripped away some of the panels of the shed's walls to look inside.
The shed covers an area of about 35 square metres, including a work space about two metres below ground, where heavy gases or vapours would likely pool. That's where the first two workers were found, along with a second pair who had attempted to rescue their colleagues. Two other workers managed to get outside before they were overcome.
The investigation by WorkSafeBC, the provincial agency responsible for workplace safety, is expected to take months, but at this point investigators believe there was a problem with a pipe carrying compost mixture in the pump house that released gas into the shed.
An electrician had been at the pump house earlier and the two employees are believed to have been continuing repairs.
“We don't know if a pipe ruptured or if there was a poor connection. But something opened up for this gaseous substance to escape. That's something we are putting together,” Mr. Eldridge said.
The farm supplies mushrooms as well as compost for growing mushrooms. Its website states the company has been serving the fresh mushroom market from British Columbia to California since 1999, with more than $20-million in sales annually. No one was answering the company's telephone Sunday.
The pump house was inspected in 2007 by WorkSafeBC officials and no compliance issues were raised then. Mr. Eldridge said his investigation will review the company's safety record, but added he was not aware of any concerns.
However, the accident underscores the danger of working in confined spaces, said Al Johnson, the agency's regional director for construction.
“When you have contaminants in the air, often you can't see it or smell it; you don't know it until it hits you,” he said. “It can be a matter of one breath and you are rendered unconscious.”
There have been at least three other cases of multiple deaths in confined spaces in B.C. in the past four years.
Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, is set to meet Monday with B.C. Labour Minister Iain Black to ask for a public inquiry into these and other recent farm-worker deaths.
Mr. Black did not return phone calls Sunday.
