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Two Men Trapped On Top Of A Burning Wind Turbine Perish

On October 29, four engineers were performing maintenance on 12 turbines at Deltawind’s Piet de Wit wind farm in the Netherlands. A fire began in the engine room and, while two of the workers were able to escape the blaze with their lives, two more were stranded at the top of the structure.

Vincent Bloodworth
Vincent Bloodworth
Feb 04, 20212.5K Shares94K Views
Two Men Trapped On Top Of A Burning Wind Turbine Perish

On October 29, four engineers were performing maintenance on 12 turbines at Deltawind’s Piet de Wit wind farm in the Netherlands. A fire began in the engine room and while two of the workers were able to escape the blaze with their lives, two more were stranded at the top of the structure. (According to a witness, the two spared from the fire jumped through the flames into a stairway while the other two hesitated.)

The height of the turbine was between 67 and 80 meters (sources vary) or 220-260 feet, and, as such, firefighters were unable to combat the blaze and rescue the trapped employees. One of the men was found at the bottom of the turbine, having either purposefully jumped or accidentally fallen, while the other was retrieved hours later. A photograph was taken of the men as they embraced shortly before their deaths.

The identities of the men were later revealed to be Arjan Kortus (21) and Daan Kous (19). The company told reporters during a press release, “The loss of the two colleagues is indescribable and heartbreaking. The company’s heartfelt condolences go out to the relatives of the two employees.”

The company investigated the cause of the fire and announced it had started with a short circuit. Further investigation performed against the company determined it was not criminally responsible for the deaths of Kortus and Kous, to the disappointment of their families.

Five years later, in 2018, safety requirements for the workers in the industry were re-examined. Arjan Kortus’ mother told reporters, “The accident with Daan and Arjan was already five years ago. It is sad that still no or insufficient measures have been taken to guarantee safety.”

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