Explosion at Colonel’s farm kills worker

Francis Tobias died in a barn explosion at Army Colonel Vitalis Chigume’s Exter Farm here on Friday.

Francis Tobius - died in a barn explosion.
Francis Tobius – died in a barn explosion.

He was working in the tobacco curing barn when the accident took place. Foul play is not suspected and the disaster has been blamed on make-shift facilities erected by new farmers.

“The major contributing factor to the accident was the fact that barns are no longer maintained to the required standard.Temperature control apparatus previously used to maintain heat and pressure in the barn no longer existed. This could have contributed to the explosion which claimed Tobias’ life,” said sources at the farm.

The police agreed. “Pressure in the barnfurnace could have risen to levels too high to be contained by the make-shift water drums used to soften tobacco leaf, resulting in the explosion. The whole barn apparatus exploded with the fatal effect of a bomb, shelling brick fragments in Tobias’s direction. He suffered a broken chest and discharged blood from the mouth and nose. He was later pronounced dead,” they said.

Chigume met all funeral requirements as a gesture of sympathy to the bereaved family.

Post published in: News
Comments
  1. Inexcusable

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *