After the collapse of an overhead crane at the Ugitech factory in Ugine (Savoie), Monday, January 3, one of the employees was not found. His lifeless body was eventually found the day after the accident and a manslaughter investigation was opened.
According to the Albertville prosecutor, Anne Gaches, the investigations were entrusted to the Albertville research brigade and the labor inspectorate, in cosaisine. An expert in metallurgy was also mobilized, as well as an association of assistance to the victims, in order to support the family of the deceased. The latter had been employed in this subsidiary of the Swiss Steel Group since 2018.
The cause of the incident still “unknown”
On the day of the accident, an overhead crane used to transport loads in a workshop on the site “collapsed during a production operation, causing a bucket containing molten metal to fall, with no flow of water. this last”. As of Monday, the cause of the incident was still “unknown”.
The installations were cooled by around fifty firefighters dispatched to the site. To do this, they were forced to “make openings in the side bays of the steelworks building to allow the heat to escape”, specifies the prefecture.
For now, the investigation services have not been able to access the place where the body was found. The prosecutor hopes that this will be possible “at the end of the week”. When the security work is completed, members of the Criminal Identifications (IRGCN) will even be able to model the accident and try to understand how the 38-year-old man lost his life.