An incident at Norfolk’s Marine Hydraulics International on Wednesday morning claimed the lives of two shipyard employees.
According to officials, emergency personnel arrived at MHI, which is situated at 1215 Warrington Ave. next to the Midtown Tunnel, for a technical rescue. The initial call on the incident was received at 7:46 a.m., according to dispatchers.
At around 8:10 a.m., Norfolk Police were dispatched to the scene to support Norfolk Fire-Rescue.
One man was rushed to the hospital with potentially fatal injuries, and another was declared dead at the spot. Later, the other individual passed away, according to shipyard officials on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of two shipyard workers after an incident at MHI Ship Repair’s midtown facility this morning,” MHI stated. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, as well as with the many impacted workers at our facility. We are committed to supporting them through this difficult time. Safety is our top priority at MHI, and we will work within our own team and with local authorities to investigate the cause of this incident.”
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The remainder of the shipyard carried on as usual, but the employees on the ship where the incident happened were sent home for the day. Karina F. Garcia of 10 On Your Side spoke with an employee who asked to remain anonymous about his experience.
“We’re still working, but, you know, I’m still traumatized a little bit,” he stated. “You hear something like that, it’s going to change the rest of your day, it’s not going to make you like, ‘ah man, let me back to work,’ it’s like, nah it’s going to be on my mind. It’s going to make me think about the things I do. Like what kind of environment do I work in? How safe is it, you know?”
