‘Mystery as teen died on contained construction site’
THE body of a teenager was found on a building site stuck in an area commonly used to store concrete, a pre-inquest hearing has been told.
The family of Marcin Porczyk have been warned they may never know exactly what happened to the 18-year-old, who was last seen at around 3am on January 23 in the Wind Street area of Swansea.
He was found two days later when a digger driver spotted the “outline of a body” in a “concrete washout” storage area on the nearby Kier Construction site.
Speaking at yesterday’s hearing, Swansea senior coroner Colin Phillips said Mr Porczyk had not been able to “extract himself ” from a knee-high “muddy area” and his body had been “camouflaged” as a result.
A routine health and safety inspection was carried out on the day his body was discovered on the site.
A search for the missing teenager at the time involved specialist police officers, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Loughor and Mumbles Lifeboat Crews and HM Coastguard.
Mr Phillips said one of the key issues to be investigated during the full inquest would be concerning how the teenager accessed the site.
Kier Construction checked the fencing, a combination of hoarding and chain fencing, on a daily basis, the hearing heard.
Mr Porczyk had not been spotted on CCTV either.
His parents, via a translator, said they were “surprised” the footage had not been reviewed after the media had been alerted to a missing person.
It was established the construction firm uses its footage as a “safeguard measure” and a deterrent, which is reviewed after incidents, rather than being observed frequently.
A report from Phil Nichol, a health and safety officer, said it was “in the realms of speculation” how Mr Porczyk gained access to the “completely contained” site.
He added it was a cold evening, and Marcin had been dressed in just a T-shirt, which the coroner said was the “dress code” for a night out in Wind Street.
The hearing heard there were also suggestions from the pathologist’s evidence hypothermia and alcohol may have added to the teenager’s confusion and why he “could not extract himself from the situation”.
A full inquest hearing is now expected to be held into the teenager’s death in November or December, with a date to be set.
Mr Phillips added: “The investigation does not show how Marcin entered the site and it may be a question we never know the answer to.”