Freeport-based CEMEX Bahamas yesterday denied police reports that one of its employees was killed in an industrial accident at its plant on Tuesday.

An official for the cement manufacturing company, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Bahama Journal yesterday that information reported by the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) in its daily crime report was inaccurate and has since sparked much concern for the families of employees at the plant.

“We have been making calls all day today to make sure that all of our employees are ok as a result of that police report,” the official said.

In its daily crime report issued by Superintendent Stephen Dean on Wednesday, the police said investigators were trying to determine exactly what happened at CEMEX Bahamas Tuesday night, after an employee was killed in an industrial accident.

The report went on to say that the incident happened around 9:35 p.m. when a CEMEX employee was operating a tractor and fell into some 60-foot deep water.

Reports say the man was moving boulders on to a barge when the incident happened.

Police said the employee did not resurface.

Officers and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel responded. The victim’s body was later recovered and he was pronounced dead on the scene, the report said.

However, the CEMEX official said the man in question is not employed with the company nor was he subcontracted to conduct any work on behalf of the company.

In fact, the official said operations at the plant end at 5:00 p.m. every day, making it virtually impossible for the victim to be a CEMEX employee.

“We are not sure where the information came from, but I can tell you that the incident happened at the Bahamas Cement compound, which is right next to our plant,” the official said.

“Bahamas Cement closed down some years ago, but we were trying to make contact with Bahama Rock, the parent company of Bahamas Cement to see if the man was subcontracted to carry out work for the company which also has a barge next to our plant.”

Both CEMEX and Bahamas Cement are located near the Freeport Container Port (FCP).
Reports say the victim might be an employee of A&C Trucking; however calls to the Freeport-based company were unsuccessful.