A worker working on the site of the future Saint-Denis-Pleyel (Seine-Saint-Denis) station of the Grand Paris Express died this Wednesday morning.
The exact circumstances of this tragedy are not yet known and are the subject of an ongoing investigation.
"A fall of equipment on the site would be at the origin of the accident", specifies the Société du Grand Paris.
Despite the intervention of firefighters, warned around 11:30 am, the man, in cardiopulmonary arrest, died on the spot.
The victim is said to be a young companion of Portuguese origin, integrated only a few months ago into the civil engineering teams of the Eiffage company.
He was at the bottom of the well when a lifting device allegedly caused a metallic object weighing about 500 kg to fall.
The Saint-Denis - Pleyel station worksite was immediately evacuated and shut down after the accident.
“We join in the grief of the family, loved ones and colleagues of the deceased companion.
The entire Grand Paris Express community is deeply affected by this accident, ”says the Société du Grand Paris.
This morning around 11:30 am, a dramatic accident occurred on the site of the Saint-Denis-Pleyel station of the Grand Paris Express station.
A companion died.
A fall of material on the site would be at the origin of this accident according to the first information.
- Grand Paris Express (@GdParisExpress) January 5, 2022
Already a death in December 2020 at La Courneuve
According to the Batiactu site, it is on this same lot attributed to Eiffage that another worker lost his life in December 2020, in the area of La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Three days before Christmas, Abdoulaye Soumahoro, 41 years old and father of three children, had died in dramatic conditions, in a tunnel boring machine of the future line 16. According to the first testimonies, confirmed by sources close to the investigation, the worker would be fell into a concrete mixer located in the tunnel boring machine, 30 m deep.
The grid on this machine would have given way under the weight of Abdoulaye, for an unknown reason.
The case is still ongoing.
"This second death, it is not surprising, comments a worker of the Grand Paris Express who wishes to remain anonymous.
We know very well that we are not on time.
We have pressure all the time, from the State, from the customer
(the SGP)
….
We often find ourselves understaffed, or with posted workers who march past and do not know the site.
We push back the limits of machines and men.
There are a whole bunch of factors that make us wonder frankly who will be the next victim.
"
The future Seine-Saint-Denis - Pleyel station will see lines 14, 15, 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express pass, from 2024, for the northern extension of line 14. Several hundred people work permanently on this line. Pharaonic construction site.