The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 12.39am to reports of a large fire within an industrial recycling centre at Friarton Bridge Park.
Emergency services attended and the body of a 46-year-old man was found, Police Scotland stated, adding that formal identification has yet to take place but his next of kin are aware (see letsrecycle.com story). Another man, aged 41, was taken to Ninewells Hospital with serious injuries where his condition is described as stable, Police Scotland noted.
In a statement given to letsrecycle.com, Shore Recycling’s managing director Michael Elwine, said: “We are all devastated, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of our colleague who has died. We are extremely grateful to the emergency services for their skill and diligence in dealing with the incident.”
Mr Elwine continued that the fire is now contained, noting that the cause of the incident is not known at this time. He added that emergency services spent several hours at the scene and inquires are ongoing. “We will co-operate fully with any investigations. The plant remains closed until further notice,” Mr Elwine concluded.
Fire
The fire service explained that the blaze involved “approximately 200 tonnes of scrap material”.
It marks the second fire that Shore Recycling’s Perth site has seen in the recent months. In September, the SFRS tackled a “significant” fire involving WEEE from household waste recycling centres for more than 24 hours (see letsrecycle.com story).
[Update 7 March] The deceased man was later named as: Slawomir Szmeichel, 46.
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