FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
August 6th would be the last day of work for miner Fari Veliu in Bulqiza.
At around 11:40, the 60-year-old rigger was working in one of the private mines in Area D, building a rig, but the collapse of the ore took his life.
After the serious incident, the police reacted by declaring that five employees of the mining entity "GERTI Sh.pk" had been arrested for the criminal offense of "Violation of safety regulations at work", resulting in death. One of the arrested, a shipowner, was released on the first day after the incident, while the others will be investigated at large or will be assigned the measure of "house arrest". The prosecution had requested that the arrests be assessed as lawful and that the investigations continue under these conditions, requests which were accepted by Judge Flutura Çuko.
According to the police, they did not take measures to ensure safety conditions at the mining site where 66-year-old Veliu lost his life.
All five arrested are employees, while the owner of the private entity, Jeton Dani, has not been investigated. He is the father of Murat Dani, a former Socialist Party candidate for deputy in the Dibër district.
According to data in the National Register of Mining Permits, the accident occurred in a gallery managed by the company "GERTI Sh.pk", owned by Jeton Dani, a businessman known in the area for his activity in the mining sector and for his political ties to the Socialist Party. In the elections of May 11, 2025, his son, Murat Dani, ran for deputy on the SP list in the Dibra district.
Sources from the Labor Inspectorate indicate that this is not the first time that accidents have occurred in this company, with two cases of injuries in the last two years. The control in the gallery is carried out by the National Authority for Safety and Emergencies in Mines, which depends on the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.
Contacted by BIRN on Wednesday for a comment on the incident, Jeton Dani refused to comment, asking to be "left alone."
This is the third fatal accident in the Bulqiza and Klos mines in 2025, reflecting the lack of effective safety measures in the sector. Employees and family members are demanding justice for Fari Veliu, the veteran miner who, due to economic difficulties, had resumed work in the gallery even after reaching retirement age.
Despite symbolic arrests after past accidents, those responsible have not been punished with real consequences, which fuels criticism of a lack of accountability and job safety in Albanian mines.
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