Experts still sifting through almost 1,000 tonnes of material evidence.
As the industry prepares to mark the third anniversary of the Didcot disaster in which four demolition workers were tragically killed, DemolitionNews understands that forensic experts from Thames Valley Police and investigators from the Health & Safety Executive are still sifting through around 870 tonnes of material recovered as evidence.
That material, thought to be primarily from the collapsed boiler house, currently resides at the HSE’s science division in Buxton in Derbyshire.
DemolitionNews further understands that the police is working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that all lines of enquiry are fully investigated. The police maintains that it is still exploring possible charges of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, and serious health and safety breaches.
This time last year, police confirmed that their officers had carried out 1,921 witness interviews and there was not yet an expected completion date for the investigation.
Michael Collings, 53, from Cleveland; John Shaw, 61, Kenneth Cresswell, 57, both from Rotherham, and Christopher Huxtable, 34, from Swansea, all died after part of the former boiler house at Didcot Power Station A collapsed as it was being prepared for demolition.
At the time of the collapse, Coleman & Company was undertaking preparatory work for the demolition of the former coal-fired boiler house. RWE NPower closed that part of the plant in March 2013 after 43 years of service.
