A Missing Man Was Identified As A Marsa Workplace Death – And People Wouldn’t Stop Joking About It
A shocking case of worker mismanagement and public cruelty has been revealed after Malta’s police put out a call for a missing man.
39-year-old Somali man Ahmed Adawe Diriye, who lived in Birżebbuġa, was installing solar panels from a height in a Marsa factory last week when he fell a storey and a half.
However, he remained unidentified after being injured. He received medical treatment at Mater Dei Hospital, where nurses reportedly referred to him as “Mr. X” since they didn’t have a name for him.
Eventually, after police issued a call for a missing man on Monday, authorities figured out that the missing man had indeed died days earlier after succumbing to his serious injuries. According to MaltaToday, nurses only figured out the man’s identity after seeing the police’s missing individual report.
“What a disgrace,” said one commentator online. “How did he get to the hospital? Where was his employer in all of this? Serious questions need to be asked to the police and the employer to find out what actually happened. What a shambles.”
“How sad and disgusting – another death without proper workplace protection,” said another.
Diriye’s death comes as contractors are being charged in court for a slew of offences in relation to the Jaiteh Lamin case, where another migrant worker fell one storey on a Mellieħa workplace before being discarded on the side of road with his injuries.
Arguably worse than the systemic failure that led to the injured man dying in a foreign country while anonymous is the fact that when police issued the missing individual call, social media was inundated with heartless and abusive comments celebrating the fact that Diriye was missing.
“Maybe he caught another boat,” said one Maltese man publicly under a TVM article announcing the search for Diriye.
“I have to say that I saw him about 10 times in Marsa today wearing different clothes every time, but they all look the same to me so it’s impossible for me to be certain,” said another woman publicly.
“-1,” some others said simply.
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When the article was updated to say the man had died due to injuries sustained while working, people were happy to keep their comments public, leading to others to question the values of the country, especially days after millions were raised in solidarity via L-Istrina.
“We need to worry about what’s inside (or what isn’t) our hearts,” said one person left disgusted by the cruelty of his fellow countrymen.
With 2022 around the corner, migrant workers in Malta face more workplace perils in a careless society than ever before.
Though there are constant calls from NGOs, former presidents and community leaders to show empathy with others, some Maltese people still have a long way to go before they’ll ever understand how to deal with their fellows humans.
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