Workplace safety inspectors are investigating an accident at a Marsa factory that cost a previously unidentified man his life.
Ahmed Adawe Diriye, a 39-year-old Somali, was, at first, reported missing by the police on Monday afternoon, saying he had last been seen last week. However, a few hours later, the police said it had resulted that the missing person was an unidentified worker who had suffered a fall at a Marsa factory a week ago today.
He fell a height of one-and-a-half storeys and succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
Times of Malta is informed that Diriye had been installing air conditioning units and solar panels at the factory at the time of the fall.
Inspectors from the Occupational Health and Safety Authority are conducting an investigation into the accident to establish whether the proper safety protocols had been properly followed.
A magisterial inquiry is also under way and a number of experts and police officers are assisting.
'Mr X'
According to a MaltaToday report, it was nurses at Mater Dei Hospital who identified the Somali man.
The nurses had originally been referring to him as Mr X, the name given to unidentified persons and cadavers.
They eventually identified him from a photo disseminated by the police earlier on Monday.
Sources close to the investigation told Times of Malta that Diriye received medical attention at the scene of the accident. Paramedics on site administered life-saving procedures, however, he died later in hospital.
The victim had been living in Malta for some four years.
In a statement on Tuesday, humanitarian group MOAS expressed its frustration and disappointment at the reports of Diriye’s death.
They said the fact that Diriye had gone unidentified for several days indicated that his name was unknown to his employers and colleagues.
This, MOAS said, suggested that he was employed illegally.
“It is utterly and absolutely unacceptable that these kinds of incidents continue to occur without triggering widespread reform to the regularisation and monitoring of employment terms and working conditions in Malta,” the group said.