Ahmed Diriye hired by subcontractors before fatal work accident

Ahmed Diriye was hired through layered sub-contracting for solar panel works at a Marsa warehouse, when he suffered a fatal workplace accident and died a few days later.

Video evidence seen by MaltaToday shows Diriye was working on the roof of a warehouse building in the Marsa industrial estate a day before the accident.

The workplace accident happened at a warehouse belonging to Packprint Ltd. Diriye was installing solar panels on the roof of the warehouse the same week of the accident.

While the accident happened at Packprint, and the relevant solar panel services were carried out for the same company, it was not Packprint Ltd that hired Ahmed Diriye.

The solar panel works at the Packprint warehouse were subcontracted to Solar Solutions, one of Malta’s leading solar panel companies.

However, sources close to the police investigation told MaltaToday the company subcontracted the works to a group of solar panel installers.

When MaltaToday reached out to Solar Solutions for comment, the company said that it was advised not to comment on the matter given an ongoing magisterial inquiry.

According to the Times of Malta, two men were arrested and interrogated over the accident while police spoke to another three under caution. Police are investigating all five people in connection to the accident.

Inspectors from the Occupational Health and Safety Authority began their separate investigations soon after the accident to establish whether safety protocols were being followed.

The magisterial inquiry is being led by Magistrate Leonard Caruana. Several court experts and police officers are assisting.

Diriye’s family are yet to gain closure on the circumstances of his death, and court procedures have provided little comfort.

One of the first obstacles concerned Ahmed Diriye’s burial. The magistrate allowed for the release of his body for burial early on in the investigation, but the family never received a copy of the deed confirming this. They tried waiting until the copy reaches their hands, but the day never came.

In the end, the family decided to go ahead with the burial, with Diriye put to rest at the Islamic cemetery.

The family never received a copy of the deed, but a magisterial decree after the burial took place concerning a previous court application on the release of the cadaver. The magistrate reiterated that Ahmed Diriye’s body could be released, and acknowledged that the body was buried by the family.

Ahmed Diriye’s fatal accident has proven mysterious for more reasons than one. Questions first arose when Ahmed Diriye went missing during Christmas week, with his friends and flatmates in Malta trying to figure out what happened to him.

As is procedure, police waited a few days before issuing a call for his whereabouts. It was only after this call was made public that police realised this missing person was the same unidentified person that succumbed to a fatal workplace accident that same week.

Diriye remained unidentified to police and was referred to as ‘Mr X’ in Surgical Ward 2, where he had been receiving treatment.

Hospital sources had told MaltaToday that Diriye died a couple of days after the accident in the same ward. It was only when Diriye’s photo first appeared on news portals and social media, that nurses realised that Mr X was Ahmed Diriye.

After connecting the dots, police were able to confirm his identity, finding out that Diriye died after succumbing to his injuries at Mater Dei Hospital.

Nobody knows why Diriye’s identity had not been established after the accident, which was even flagged in a police media release.

The mystery is how Diriye remained unidentified despite the accident having been flagged to the police and a magisterial inquiry initiated.