Manildra flour mill explosion as I drove next to it
Posted by Glen Johnston on Friday, May 18, 2018
Six Tongan employees at Manildra flour mill in Australia were not on-site when an explosion injured a worker and caused extensive damage to the facility on Saturday.
Emergency services responded to a building fire at the Manildra Group-operated site at about 2.30pm on Saturday, Central Western Daily reported.
Fine Lātū of Parkes, Sydney which is 38 minute-drive to Manildra told Kaniva News he and five other Tongans who were employees of the company were off duty when the incident occurred.
The injured individual was treated for minor injuries by ambulance crews at the scene.
Operations resumed at the Manildra Flour Mills on Monday but the cause of Saturday’s explosion likely won’t be known until the end of the week, it said.
About 40 people were on-site at about 1.30pm on Saturday when the explosion occurred triggering an evacuation of the facility.
Site manager John Brunner reportedly said it was not known what had caused the incident and subsequent blaze, and an independent assessor would work with the facility’s owner the Manildra Group to determine how it happened.
He said the explosion occurred in a storage area, activating the mills’ sprinklers and alarm systems.
Tongan employees at the mill according to Lātū were Fahina Talanoa, Tonga Folau, Sāmiu Vaha’akolo, Tuitu’u Māsila and ‘Alo Fīnau.
