Widow demands answers over husband's death in steelworks explosion

Mr and Mrs Mackay on their wedding day in 2017

The widow of a man killed in an explosion at a former steelworks site almost three years ago says she is no closer to finding out why he died.

John Mackay and his colleague Tommy Williams died during demolition work at the site on 19 September 2019.

The two men were working at height, removing external steel furniture from a storage tank.

After the incident, it took firefighters a week to retrieve their bodies from the platform.

Mr Mackay, a 49-year-old grandfather from Edinburgh, had to be identified by his dental records.

The steelworks, at Redcar on Teesside, announced its closure in 2015 when its Thai-based owners went into liquidation and 2,200 workers lost their jobs.

The site was being cleared and Mr Mackay was brought in to operate a hydraulic platform.

His wife Ann told the BBC her husband was sent to the site after one of his colleagues took time off to celebrate a birthday.

Mrs Mackay says she wants answers over why her husband died

She said: "My last conversation with John was at 13:30 and he was killed at 14:00. The last thing he said to me was that he loved me."

The accident is under investigation by Cleveland Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), but after more than 1,000 days without her husband, Mrs Mackay is growing increasingly frustrated.

She says she was told that before the accident, the tanks they were working on were thought to only contain rainwater and debris.

The inquiry has been trying to establish what was in the tanks and what caused the explosion that killed the men.

"My husband went to work that day and didn't come back," she says. "Through no fault of his own he was killed and I've got no answers as to why.

"Two men lost their lives and it feels like nobody cares."

Ann Mackay 's husband John died three years ago

Two months after his death, Mr Mackay's employers Nationwide Platforms sent an information pack about health and safety to his home address.

"It had his name on it," said Mrs Mackay.

Mrs Mackay's lawyers are preparing legal action on her behalf against Nationwide Platforms, the site's occupiers South Tees Site Company and demolition company John F Hunt.

Glen Millar, from Thompsons Solicitors, said: "In almost three years no-one has been held to account by the prosecuting authorities.

"As regards civil liability, those responsible are passing the buck rather than doing the decent thing and compensating Mrs Mackay for her grief and loss of financial support.

"The family are left with no alternative but to instruct me to raise Court of Session proceedings."

A spokesperson for Nationwide Platforms said: "The tragic death of John Mackay, who was a highly regarded member of the team, had a profound impact on all our colleagues. We will continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigation where required."

John F Hunt Regeneration Ltd said: "Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of Mr John Mackay and Mr Tommy Williams. Their deaths are deeply felt by everyone at John F Hunt and they will never be forgotten.

"We have cooperated fully with the authorities in respect of their complex investigation, the outcome of which is awaited."

Anniversary of incident

In a statement, Cleveland Police said: "We understand and sympathise with Mr Mackay's family as they continue to await the outcome of this investigation.

"Enquiries have been ongoing and we have recently provided an update to Mr Mackay's family on where we are with the investigation and the progress that is being made."

A HSE spokesperson said: "HSE are conscious that we are approaching the anniversary of the incident and our thoughts remain with the families.

"We are supporting the investigation led by Cleveland Police, and working hard to help bring this to a conclusion."

The South Tees Site Company said it had cooperated fully with the police, HSE and all other parties "to ensure no stone is left unturned in establishing exactly what happened".

A spokesperson said: "The families of both John and Tommy remain in our thoughts and we hope that, for their sake, this investigation is concluded quickly so they can get the answers that they rightly deserve."