Worker dies in ammonia leak

CEBU, Philippines - Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luigi Quisumbing has ordered the temporary closure of a cold storage facility after an employee died yesterday because of alleged ammonia leak.

 Quisumbing issued the closure order against Big Blue Logistics Corporation, which operates a refrigerated warehouse at the North Reclamation Area in Barangay Subangdaku, after the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council confirmed that an ammonia leak killed Joseph Baguyon.

Baguyon, 33, refrigeration technician of the company, died of suffocation. He was brought to private hospital yesterday dawn where he was declared dead on arrival.

The company offers a full range of temperature-controlled warehousing services to customers in the food industry. 

"The City of Mandaue has issued a Temporary Closure Order to Big Blue Logistics due to the presence of ammonia traces which may present a hazard to employees," Quisumbing said.

The mayor said the city is already taking initial steps about the incident. He said the joint monitoring team of the city health department and CENRO yesterday inspected the warehouse.

The city also requested the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the DENR-Environmental Management Board to conduct a detailed emission and pollution check.

Lawyer Elaine Bathan, the mayor’s chief of staff, said the city government will check if the company has complied with the necessary permits to operate.

CDRRMC officer Carlo Cabahug said there were at least 18 workers on night shift duty when the incident happened. All of them except Baguyon were safe.

"Ang leaking nagsugod sa ibabaw, sa ila gyud nga receiver tank. Unya ang biktima nibalik pa man siya sa engineering room to check the status of the leaking ug didto na trapped ug na-suffocate si Joseph," Cabahug said. (FREEMAN)