Conveyor broke two times before Wanny Pelletier's fatal mishap at pellet plant
The conveyor that fatally injured a teenager in Saint-Quentin had broken twice in the days before Wanny Pelletier's accident.
That's according to several employees of the Groupe Savoie wood pellet plant who testified Monday at a coroner's inquest in Edmundston.
Pelletier was a 17-year-old high school student working a part-time job cleaning at the plant on Dec. 22, 2016, when he was struck in the abdomen by a piece of equipment and his leg got stuck under a conveyor.
It took two hours to free him and he died four days later in hospital.
The manager of the pellet plant was among the witnesses on the first day of the inquest.
The coroner and jurors heard that after the conveyor broke earlier, breaks in a chain were repaired temporarily. The entire chain was to be replaced over the Christmas holidays.
After the last repair job, a security piece was not returned to its proper place.
Pelletier was found with his leg completely stuck in the conveyor at about 6:30 p.m.
He remained conscious for the two hours it took to get him out.
Company official Nathalie Savoie testified late in the day.
Outside the courtroom, she said representatives of the company were on hand to co-operate fully with the inquest. She declined to make further comment while the inquest is going on.
Pelletier's maternal grandfather was the only family member of the victim in the gallery.
The inquest is expected to wrap up Wednesday.
