Two men die in Western Australia days after a Craigavon man is killed

It is understood the men, in their 20s, were crushed under at least one concrete panel which toppled from a truck as it was being unloaded at the construction site on the corner of Goderich Street and Bennett Street, East Perth at about 11.30am yesterday.

The men, thought to be from Omagh and Derry, were on work visas.

Just last Saturday Alan Haughey from Craigavon was killed in a car accident in the Kalgoorlie area of Western Australia.

His family, from the Drumglass area, are heartbroken and have been working with organisations here and in Australia to repatriate his remains.

According to the Western Australian newspaper, the young men who died yesterday were part of a crew of workers at a building site when the incident happened.

Workers were evacuated from the site and the street was closed for several hours to allow ambulance crews and firefighters access to the scene.

Vikas Verma, of restaurant Grill and Chill opposite the building site, saw the accident unfold.

“We started working in the restaurant and then we heard a noise,” he told the Western Australian.

Mr Verma said he saw a large slab was being lifted off the side of a truck by a crane.

He said that appeared to unbalance the truck, which was holding four slabs on its other side.

“Two slabs fell down onto the ground,” he said.

“I saw someone in fluorescent clothing underneath the slabs.”

Mr Verma said he knew many of the site workers who regularly came into the restaurant.

“It is very bad because we have a very good connection with these people,” he said.

WorkSafe inspectors are heading to the site to begin an investigation into what caused the accident.

CFMEU union officials and the DFES chaplain have also arrived.