One man is dead and another one has been hospitalized after a work-related accident at the fish processing company Háteigur on Reykjanes peninsula, Southwest Iceland, overnight, mbl.is reports.
The two men had been staying in sleeping quarters a short distance from the processing plant, and it is believed that fumes spread from the plant to where they were sleeping. This morning, one of them was found dead, but the other one was transported to hospital.
The Administration of Occupational Safety and Health was notified of the matter around 8 am. Its representatives are on the scene, as well as officers from the Suðurnes Police Department, who are investigating.
A very strong odor is in the area and inside the processing plant, and all operation inside the facility has been temporarily prohibited by the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health.
“This is very serious,” stated Kristinn Tómasson, the health administration’s senior physician. “According those familiar with the site, the smell inside the facility is unusual, compared to what it is normally like, which is why we have prohibited work in the processing plant and the area nearby.”
The name of the company has been corrected, based on RÚV‘s report. Also, first reports indicated the sleeping quarters were adjacent to the plant, but that was later corrected.
Please see an update to the story here.
