Welsh farmer died after overfilled animal feed bin fell on him
7th October 2024
A Welsh farmer died after an overfilled animal feed bin toppled over on him and his son, an inquest has found.
Iwan Llwyd Wynne Evans died of “traumatic injuries” following the accident that took place on his family farm in Aberhosan near Machynlleth in February 2023.
Emergency services attended but, despite efforts to revive the 78-year-old farmer, the man died at the scene.
The coroner at the Caernarfon hearing ruled the death was accidental, media report.
According to the BBC News, the inquest heard evidence from Mr Evans’ son, Dafydd, and health and safety experts about how the animal feed bin had only been bought a few weeks before the fatal incident.
Extra tonne of feed
Dafydd Evans said he and his father had built the flat-packed feed bin together and believed they had followed all the correct instructions.
The inquest heard the feed bin had been placed in a barn ready to be filled on 17th February.
Mr Evans said that the instructions were for feed bins holding 3.5 and 4.5 tonnes of animal food, and they had ordered 4.4 tonnes of cattle feed to be delivered on the day his father died.
In a statement, the delivery driver, Robert Mason, described how he finished unloading the feed into the food silo when he noticed it moving.
He said that he shouted to both the farmers to get out of the way, but the bin fell on them.
Mr Mason confirmed that the farmer and his son were covered by animal feed, and he went to help them.
The emergency services arrived and tried to resuscitate Mr Evans, but his injuries were too serious.
A health and safety investigation revealed the feed bin was only supposed to hold 3.5 tonnes of feed, and the concrete foundations under it failed when almost an extra tonne of additional feed had been added, BBC News reported.
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