Erol Asma (59) from Schönenwerd SO once taught his son at work. He proudly showed Erhan († 24) how the fabric coating machine works. He has been working for the Lonstroff company for over three decades. And finally his junior joined him.
But the times together are over. His son is dead. He died in an accident in Hallwil AG in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday on the coating machine.
The father still can’t believe what happened. He doesn’t know exactly how the tragedy happened. But he knows the machine very well. ‘His hands probably got caught in the machine. Then the arms. Then the whole body. He couldn’t free himself, »says Asma to Blick. The painting machine drew his son into it. Those are his logical conclusions. “The tool crushed him.”
Suddenly the phone rang in the night
Erhan didn’t stand a chance. He knelt down and didn’t have a hand free, according to the father. “Otherwise he could have reached the emergency stop above.” There is no emergency stop at the bottom of the machine.
At the time of the accident, Erol Asma and his wife are at home. Suddenly the phone rings at 12:42 a.m. An accident happened. And Erhan Asma seriously injured. “I drove straight to the company,” says the father. When he gets there, the ambulance is already there. “I wasn’t allowed in the ambulance. I saw Erhan through the car window but couldn’t see any sign of life from him. Except for the possibly imagined last breath. His eyes were closed.”
No defects found on the machine
A horrible picture presents itself to the father. “His head was crushed, his face turned blue. Several internal organs broken.” He cannot explain how the accident could have happened.
«The system was brought up to date, the machine renovated. After the accident, the machine was checked – everything worked.” Lonstroff confirms when asked: “Suva inspected the machine the day after the accident, found no defects and released it for operation again.”
Father Erol Asma is shaken, but he has no grudges against the company. «The company was like a home for me. I experienced a lot there. I was able to feed my children thanks to the company.”
But because of the tragedy, he will no longer set foot in her. “I would always be confronted with the images from that night when my son died there.” His sad conclusion: “My son died at the job that was mine for decades.”
Son is buried in Antalya
After the tragedy, numerous friends and acquaintances came to the abdication in Switzerland, says Erhan’s older sister Dilek Özer (33). «My little brother was very popular. He was such a kind person.” And she tells of childhood: “He was not only my brother, but also like a baby for me. And he was a rascal at the time.”
Father Erol remembers Erhan’s last wish: “My wife and I want to emigrate to Turkey again sometime, to Antalya. My son said he wanted to come too as soon as we left. Because he couldn’t imagine staying in Switzerland without his parents.” Now the parents are fulfilling their deceased son’s wish: he will be buried in Antalya.
There is also great sympathy in the company: “All of us, employees and management, are deeply affected by this terrible accident. It is our first priority to take care of those affected, »says Lonstroff CEO Maurice Hasani to Blick.
The boss emphasizes that job security is Lonstroff’s top priority. “Every employee has to sign a new security protocol every year, for example, and confirm that they have understood all the security measures.”
Two years ago, women at Lonstroff’s had their fingers crushed
There are clearly defined workflows for all processes. “Even on this machine,” says the CEO. “What exactly went wrong in the fatal night is now the subject of the investigation. If it turns out that there are ways to increase safety, we will of course seize these opportunities.”
It is not the first accident in the recent past of the Lonstroff company: At the beginning of 2020, a punching machine crushed several fingers of the then 29-year-old Agneza T.* from Muri AG.
The two accidents have nothing in common, explains company boss Hasani. “In the accident two years ago, the cause was a third party. We can rule that out in the present case, since the employee who had an accident – for safety reasons, of course – was working in a separate room where only one person is and has access.” In 30 years, there has never been an incident or complaint on the machine in question.