German power plant deaths

Five construction workers died and five more were seriously injured when parts of a propping system collapsed at a power station construction project in Grevenbroich, near Cologne, Germany. Scaffolding weighing 450 tonnes collapsed and fell more than 100 m to the ground in the incident on the RWE power plant on 25 October.

Dr. Jürgen Grossmann, CEO of RWE said, “On behalf of all my colleagues on the Executive Board, I'd like to express my deepest condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives. It is tragic that the work on such a future-oriented construction site has been overshadowed by such a horrible accident. My thanks go to all aid workers for their dedication and all others involved for their great support.”

RWE is investing some € 2.2 billion (US$ 3.2 billion) in the power plant, which will burn lignite, a low grade coal. The facility's two generators will have a capacity of 1.1 GW each.