Two die in port tragedy

  May 18, 2020 10:59 am Ibrar Younas 1186
The captain of a cargo ship appeared in court this week accused of negligence, after two of his crewmen were killed in an horrific accident while cleaning on board.

Two die in port tragedy

Egyptian Ahmed Mohamed Hassan Youssef, 23, and Syrian Hosin Alothman, 26,  were electrocuted while washing dwon the deck of their boat, the Anakin in Gazimağusa port.

The city’s District Court was told that a 380kw electricity cable – which provided power to a water pressure pump located in the storage room of the ship was left “unchecked.” It fell on to 
the fan of the pump’s motor,  causing an electricity surge while Mr Alothman was washing down the deck with a spray gun.

Mr Youssef ran to help him but was also hit by the electric shock. Both were taken to Gazimağusa State hospital but despite treatment they died. 

Captain Hassan Arnaout, 56, was remaned in custody.

The court heard that the suspect had captained the ship out of Lebanon with 15 members of his crew, and was on route to get animals from Spain . Due to a mechanical breakdown the ship was anchored at the Gazimağusa port from October 24, 2019.bDuring this period, the court heard that five engineers on the ship had left vessel.

Speaking to Cyprus Today, Harbour Authorities director, Mehmet Besmel, said that the ship had been brought to the harbour from Lebanon for maintenance, but he declined to comment further when asked about the possible causes of the incident. 
 



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