No answers a year on from ship incident
Survivors are dealing with “life-changing” and “catastrophic” injuries a year to the day that a ship tipped over in Edinburgh.
US Navy vessel the RV Petrel toppled over at Leith Docks on March 22 last year, injuring 35 people. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is now investigating the incident in collaboration with Police Scotland.
Lawyers for those hurt have now said that there was “unrest” and “concern” over the lack of answers, as it is still unclear what caused the collapse.
A spokesman for law firm Digby Brown said: “It has now been one year since this incident occurred but the authorities have not yet confirmed what failings led to the dry dock collapse of RV Petrel. It’s the not knowing that often causes upset and the lack of answers here continues to cause unrest and concern among survivors.
“We currently support 13 people from four different nations and while I cannot divulge details, some have suffered truly catastrophic, life-changing injuries.
“Our priority is making sure each person has access to enhanced treatment so the outcome of their physical recovery may be as positive as possible.”
An HSE spokesman said: “A joint investigation into the incident between HSE and Police Scotland is ongoing.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “The RV Petrel has now made its onward journey from Leith docks, Edinburgh. Officers continue to work with the Health and Safety Executive to establish the full circumstances of this incident.”
One injured worker, Constantin Pogor, last April spoke about the horrifying moment the ship toppled.
He said: “I heard a loud noise, felt movement …… I flew from one side of the bridge to the other and landed on my right side and hit my ribs on a metal beam.
“I must have passed out because I remember just sort of coming to – that’s when I realised my elbow was dislodged. A colleague then tried to move me – it was really painful and that’s when I realised that although I could move my legs, something was wrong in my hip.
“I still don’t even know what actually happened that day to cause the ship to fall … I’ve now sought my own lawyers to investigate independently on my behalf too and I think there’s a lot of other people onboard who’ve done the same.”