Family sues Anglogold for death of former employee

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March 5, 2016 8:25 PM

The mother and wife of the late George Emil Baffour on Friday told the Labour Division of the Accra High Court that management of Anglogold Ashanti were to blame for the death of Engineer as safety precautions and proceedure were not duly followed, leading to his fatal accident in the company's Obuasi underground mine.

Anglogold Ashanti Obuase Mine

The family of a deceased engineer of Anglogold Ashanti have brought a suit of $6.5 million against the mining company for negligence.

The mother and wife of late George Emil Baffour on Friday told the Labour Division of the Accra High Court that management of Anglogold Ashanti were to blame for the death of the engineer as safety precautions and proceedure were not duly followed, leading to his fatal accident in the company's Obuasi underground mine.

They are therefore claiming special damages for his three children and family of the cedi equivalent of $6,500,000.00 for the loss of the late engineer, as well as general damages for alleged "mental distress, consortium, loss of love companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace and moral support."

The plaintiffs also claimed "an amount equivalent to 60 month's earnings of the deceased under the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1987."

In their statement of claim filed late last month, the plaintiffs averred that the deceased was retrenched on October 31, 2014 and re-engaged on November 14, 2014 for one year in his capacity as mechanical engineer attached to Anglogold's Feasibility Study (Engineering) Department at the Obuasi Mine.

They claimed that on October 22, 2015, the deceased was selected as part of a team of Anglogold Ashanti Ghana and Randgold Resources Limited that had entered into investment agreement to redevelop the Obuasi Mine and to go underground in a conveyor attached to Anglogold's Adansi Underground Mine at Obuasi.

According to the plaintiffs, Anglogold officials telephoned Joyce Baffour, wife of the deceased at about 11:00 am on October 22, 2015 to inform her that her husband had been involved in a fatal accident in the underground mine.

The plaintiffs claimed that it took about seven hours before the deceased lifeless body was retrieved and deposited at Anglogold Ashanti Hospital morgue.

They averred that a police and an autopsy report later revealed that the engineer died when their conveyor submerged, and the autopsy report identified the cause of death as "asphyxia" due to drowning.

According to the plaintiffs, the engineer died "by reason of the negligence and/or breach of duty on the part of the defendant, its servants, agents and assigns."

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