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Road workers in Madrid (archive)
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When he started work, the asphalt was already hot.
The temperatures were 39 degrees: In Madrid, the street sweeper José Antonio Gonzáles died after heat stroke.
Now the man's son is making serious accusations against the mayor.
It is inhumane to work in this heat, without shade and in this clothing, said Miguel Ángel González of the newspaper "El País".
The street sweepers therefore wear clothing made of polyester.
The pants are long.
José Antonio González started his shift last Friday at two in the afternoon.
According to »El País«, he had taken two two-liter water bottles and a spray bottle with him to regularly spray water on his face.
He collapsed three hours later.
A neighbor saw Gonzáles collapse and called an ambulance.
Gonzáles' body temperature had already risen to 41 degrees, as reported by "El Diario".
Heat stroke left him unconscious.
He later died in hospital from complications of a heart attack.
He was 60 years old.
According to »El País«, González had worked as a fruit and vegetable dealer in Madrid for a long time, but he had to close his shop due to the corona pandemic.
A few months ago he started as a street sweeper, but only had temporary contracts.
González had been trying to get permanent employment and was working all the harder.
Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, meanwhile, defended the cleaners' uniforms.
These are "approved" and correspond "in principle to the regulations", as it says in "El Diario".
Almeida absolved the city government of any responsibility and held the Ministry of Labor responsible.
However, this had already made companies aware of the heat-related risks at the beginning of July.
Spain has been suffering from a massive heat wave with temperatures of up to 44 degrees for more than ten days.
Numerous forest fires have broken out in the country.
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