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Upington – The department of transport, safety and liaison in the Northern Cape is set to lodge an investigation into the collapse of a crane that killed two people at the KHI Solar One plant in Upington, according to reports.
The 198m crane, which collapsed on Monday, killed two people and seriously injured four, SABC reported.
SA Weather reports tweeted that the crane collapsed due to gale force winds.
Department of transport, safety and liaison spokesperson Johannes Stuurman told SABC that accidents of this nature remain a concern.
Police spokesperson Jaques September told News24 that a female worker died on the scene and a male worker died at hospital.
He said the four injured remain in a critical condition.
September said police were investigating the matter.
KHI Solar One plant, which is still under construction and set to have a solar field of 600ha, is owned by Spanish company Abengoa.
Abengoa’s Patricia Malo de Molina Meléndez said: “The accident occurred at the around 13:30 [on Monday]. It resulted in the death of two workers and left seven others wounded that were immediately transferred to nearby hospitals.”
She said: “Abengoa would like to express its sincerest regret for the loss of the employees, as well as its support and solidarity with their families.”
According to The New Age the incident was not the first of its kind at the plant.
An anonymous source told the newspaper that there have been numerous accidents on site, which have been kept quiet by officials.
The New Age’s attempts to get further confirmation from site managers were met with engaged tones and hang-ups.
An artists impression of what KHI Solar One will look like once completed. The tower under construction in Upington is the first commercial super heated steam tower in the world.
Headlines on eNCA: Three people are feared dead after a massive crane collapse at a solar plant in Upington. #DSTV403 pic.twitter.com/sZboQWQte8
— eNCA (@eNCAnews) November 4, 2014Two people killed when a crane collapsed at the building site of a new solar plant in #Upington in the #NorthernCape pic.twitter.com/yGk5yt9O16
— MyNorthernCapeTV (@myncapetv) November 4, 2014
Upington site accident claims two lives-http://t.co/JMaVQdZzwn pic.twitter.com/ed3bssYImf
— The New Age (@The_New_Age) November 4, 2014
