Qatar World Cup bosses’ silence on British worker’s death irks relatives

It’s been 10 months since a Briton was killed while building Qatar’s Khalifa stadium for the World Cup, and his relatives are upset and angry after being stonewalled without any explanations forthcoming from the Qatari authorities and the contractors, according to the Guardian.

Zac Cox died in January after a 40-meter fall when his safety equipment failed. His family was told that a report containing vital information about the circumstances of his death has been prepared, but it has not been passed on to the relatives or the British coroner probing his death.

This week, the coroner blasted the family’s treatment meted out to the family, which also raises questions about how much the UK Foreign Office has done to force Qatari authorities part with the details and the reasons for Cox’s death.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the body overseeing the World Cup, has never communicated with the family about the accident.

The German multinational Pfeifer –contracted to build the stadium roof walkways on which Cox was working – has also failed to pass on information and respond to family emails listing their concerns.

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The British police have been unable to extract information from an opaque Qatari justice system, or the array of firms involved in the work.

Cox’s wife died in 2015, and his two sisters-in-law, Ella Joseph and Hazel Mayes, have been trying to unearth the truth behind his death.

Cox was working on a suspended catwalk platform on which cameras, sound and lighting could be installed when a lever hoist failed and one end of the catwalk dropped, leaving it hanging. Overloaded, Cox’s lifeline snapped and he fell.

Lever hoists provided by Pfeifer were regarded as high quality. But some of Cox’s colleagues have claimed that as pressure grew to speed up the work extra lever hoists of a lesser quality were provided at short notice by another firm.

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