A man who was crushed in a tragic factory accident managed to walk away after building material weighing three-quarters of a ton fell on him, before he died hours later in hospital.
Kieran McClean became trapped under a large steel frame with granite cladding at premises at Kilkeel harbour on Monday 17 August. The 49-year old was freed from beneath the heavy structure by work colleagues at Engineering and Construction Group, but his injuries proved fatal. Industry sources claimed Mr McClean had been able to converse with co-workers shortly after he was struck by the huge steel panel on the shop floor. However, it is understood he complained of chest pains and was taken to the Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, where desperate attempts to save him failed.
A source commented, "The panel that fell on top of him was part of a pre-fabricated building. It was a considerable size, and weighed somewhere in the region of three-quarters of a ton, so it was quite extraordinary that he came out of it at all."
Mr McClean worked as a design engineer at the Kilkeel factory and had been employed by the steel manufacturer for more than 20 years. The firm was closed the day after the incident as officials from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSE NI) started to carry out an investigation. A HSE NI spokesperson said, "Mr McClean died after a large steel structure with granite cladding fell on him at premises in County Down. The exact circumstances at the time are still under investigation, but we understand the structure was being prepared for moving to another location."
