A contractor at an iron-ore mine on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia, on Friday 17 March 2017. The worker, identified as Nathan Beesley, 32, from Devon in England is understood to have been scaling (removing small fragments of rock by hand) on a rock face at the Grange Resources-owned Savage River Mine, when he was struck by a piece of falling rock and fell to his death. He is survived by a wife and two young sons.
Nathan Beesley, left, killed at a mine on the west coast of Tasmania on 17 March 2017. Katie Beesley/BBC.
Mr Beesley, a former Sergeant in the Royal Marines, had moved to Australia in the hope of joining the Australian Defence Force, however the process had taken longer than he anticipated, and he had taken alternative work whole waiting for an interview. His wife has expressed concern as to the future of the family, as they are not yet permanent residents of Australia and may be obliged to leave in the absence of a breadwinner.
The incident is under investigation by WorkSafe Tasmania. This is the fourth fatality at a mine on the west coast of Tasmania since 2013.
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