Ypres (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Three people were found guilty of unintentional manslaughter for being careless with World War I shells, causing a deadly explosion. Victims may receive over 250,000 euros in compensation.
Three people were found guilty of unintentional manslaughter because they were careless during work that caused a deadly explosion from old World War I shells. The manager of the company in charge was blamed because the work site didn’t have the right safety measures. They failed to find and reduce the risks of digging in that area. Because his company didn’t take the needed steps to avoid disturbing dangerous materials, this led to the tragic accident.
How did negligence lead to the Ypres explosion and manslaughter charges?
The crane operator who found the dangerous shells was found guilty because he didn’t follow safety rules that could have prevented the explosion. He was careless and didn’t check for unexploded bombs while digging. The manager of the excavation company was also guilty for not properly overseeing the work and not telling everyone about the dangers. The court said the company didn’t do risk assessments and didn’t ensure its workers were trained for dangerous situations. They mentioned that these mistakes caused the tragic accident, showing how important safety rules are in risky jobs like this.
The court said that the people involved didn’t do things the right way. They found shells while digging, but instead of telling DOVO right away, they just left them behind the building. Those shells stayed there for weeks, and that caused a bad accident. Since finding shells happens a lot in Westhoek, the manager thought it was normal and planned to call DOVO only when the work was finished.
It’s not clear how the shells exploded. A DOVO worker said they only go off if someone kicks them, picks them up, or drops them. The injured worker couldn’t explain it either. The court found the guilty people, but they won’t get specific punishments, so the victims can get money for their losses, which could be around 250,000 euros or more.
