Aussie deaths prompt gov’t visit

Management officials at BHP Iron Ore in Australia are slated to meet with Western Australia’s development minister, Clive Brown, following fatal accidents at two of the company’s sites.

Brown will meet BHP Iron Ore President Graeme Hunt and speak to workers at the company’s Boodarie facility, near Port Hedland, where one of the accidents occurred. The government will launch an independent inquiry into the deaths.

The Boodarie iron plant was the scene of the first accident, when a gas explosion happened during routine maintenance in late May. Four men were injured and later died in hospital. The other three remain in hospital. Production remains suspended following the incident.

Hours later, a subcontractor was killed after being hit in the head by heavy machinery at the company’s satellite site, near Newman, in the Pilbara region. Work has restarted there.