12.05.2016

Fatal incident in Netherlands

One man is dead and another in serious condition after the van mounted lift they were working from was struck by a passing truck earlier today in Zevenaar to the south east of Arnhem, near the border with Germany.
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The scene this morning

The two men are apparently employed by Olbotec, a street lighting and traffic sign contractor and were repairing a traffic light, with the boom extended over the road, when the truck clipped the underside of the basket bouncing both men out of the platform from a height of around four metres platform height. One man was declared dead at the scene while the other was airlifted to hospital in critical condition.
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It was quickly apparent that one of the two men had died from his injuries

Witnesses have confirmed that the two men were not clipped into the platform and that the lift was not properly cordoned off – the fact that it was working over the street might have made this academic- what is certain is that the truck was able to pass underneath the machine, a Custers heavy van mounted lift. The platform was hardly damaged suggesting that had they been wearing harnesses attached with a short lanyard they would at worst have sustained minor injuries.
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Witnesses said that the platform was not cordoned off from the street