The Star: January 26, 2017

28 Thursday January 26 2017
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The Star
News
Chch man killed in Qatar World Cup stadium
• By Matthew Theunissen, Simon
Plumb,
A CHRISTCHURCH-born man
has died while working on the
massive stadium build in Qatar
for football’s 2022 World Cup.
Zac Cox, 40, is thought
to have died instantly when
equipment failed and he fell from
a catwalk platform at Doha’s
Khalifa Stadium, which is being
renovated in preparation for the
2022 tournament.
An investigation has been
launched into how the tragedy
happened – the second death in
a matter of months fuelling fresh
controversy over preparations for
the FIFA tournament.
Good friend Steve Wilson said
Mr Cox was much-loved among
his wide network of friends here.
“He was a close friend of mine,
a close friend of many people,”
he said.
“He touched so many people
with his beautiful spirit and
heart.”
Mr Cox was a man in tune
with his spiritual side and spent
about eight years living at the
Anahata Yoga Retreat in Golden
Bay, where he became heavily
involved in yoga.
He left about three years ago
to work in the construction
industry.
TRAGIC: Zac Cox died instantly when a hoist failed as he worked on a World Cup stadium in
Qatar.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
“Just a few years ago he got a
ticket so he could work off a high
wire. He was over there earning
money because he was going to
come back,” Mr Wilson said.
“I felt like he was my younger
brother, he was also so incredibly
wise for his age.”
Mr Cox had great tragedy in
his life when his wife, Betsy, died
of breast cancer, aged 30.
He had since found love again
and was intending to remarry.
“He met another beautiful
girl and they were planning to
move back here and marry,” Mr
Wilson said.
“The last communication I had
with him was an email he sent
me about January 1 or 2, and he
said he was going back in Doha
on the sixth, see how that goes
and then he was going to come
over here.”
Mr Wilson had spoken to Mr
Cox’s mother, who still lives in
Christchurch.
“What she [the mum] said was
they were installing a catwalk
high up on the structure, he
was standing on it, there was an
equipment failure and dropped.
He fell and would have died
instantly on impact,” he said.
“Good to know how it
happened and he didn’t suffer a
protracted death.”
It is the second confirmed
death of an employee working on
a 2022 World Cup work site in
the past three months.
In October, 29-year-old Nepali
man Anil Kumar Pasman was
killed after being struck by a
water tanker at the Al Wakrah
Stadium building site, according
to Doha News.
Last year, Amnesty
International raised the alarm
about conditions for workers
refurbishing the stadium, and
accused Qatar of using forced
labour and putting profit before
safety.
It followed previous reports in
2015 of some 1200 workers who
died building stadiums in Qatar
for the World Cup.
The Khalifa Stadium was due
to be finished at the end of 2016
but that deadline was pushed out
to March this year.
Construction firm Midmac-
Six Construct said Mr Cox –
who was wearing a harness and
other safety gear – fell when a
lever hoist failed.
“Sadly, the harness was cut
during the fall with a fatal
outcome. What caused the cut is
subject to further investigation.”
The organisation responsible
for delivering the stadiums
and infrastructure for the
2022 World Cup, the Supreme
Committee for Delivery &
Legacy, said: “An immediate
investigation into the cause of
this fatality is under way and
further details will be released in
due course.
“The Supreme Committee
for Delivery & Legacy shares
our deepest condolences with
the family for their loss.” – NZ
Herald
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