The incident occurred after Oumar Guèye, Minister of Fisheries, Senegal, filed an injunction, on Thursday May 25, to close production at the plant and cease all exports after a health and safety inspection.
He claims Copelit Africa failed to comply with the injunction and two days later the accident occurred.
“If this factory for the manufacture of fishmeal and fish oil for export had strictly complied with the request of the Fisheries Administration for immediate cessation of production and export, this unfortunate incident would certainly not have occurred,” Guèye reportedly said.
“But the factory ignored this injunction and, on arrival, a boiler disintegrated and caused the death of Bassirou Marone and other damages in the vicinity.”
The explosion happened at 7am, on Saturday, May 27, a day after local residents staged a protest in opposition to factory, its pollution and impact on the surrounding environment.
The cause of the incident is under investigation.