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Two workers just died under mysterious circumstances at the County Fair poultry facility in Paarl.

In fact, several of the male employees at the disposal plant began experiencing breathing difficulties at the time.

The incident happened at midday on Sunday in Klipheuwel, Agter Paarl, confirmed Astral, which owns the facility.

The Daily Voice reported that several people were injured in the incident, which is still to be investigated and explained, while the remaining colleagues have been provided with counselling to cope with the tragedy:

ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said crew and other EMS services responded after 1.30pm. They were led to a septic pit where the patients were reported.

“Upon closer inspection, medics found one man beside the pit being treated by on-site rescue while two other men were being extricated from the pit.”

Meiring said medics assessed the men and found that one man was suffering from minor breathing difficulties while the two other men showed no signs of life.

Frans van Heerden, managing director at Poultry Commercial, said the men were working at the plant that is separate from the main facility:

“It does not have any septic pits. The affected employees developed breathing difficulties of which the cause is under investigation,” Van Heerden explained.

He confirmed that two male employees died after becoming ill while six others were sent to the hospital for observation overnight on Sunday, five of whom were discharged afterwards.

Van Heerden said that Astral is “disturbed and saddened by the loss of life” and has committed itself to determine the cause of the deaths and illnesses:

The company also said a thorough cleaning of the area has been undertaken and any preventative action determined from the investigation will be immediately implemented.

[source:dailyvoice]