Investigation Continues Into Fatal Tronox Accident

HAMILTON, Miss. (WCBI) — The investigation continues into what caused a dredging barge to overturn Thursday, trapping and killing a Brooksville man in a sediment pond behind Tronox in Hamilton, Miss.

George Rice, 56, of Brooksville was recovered from under the overturned barge just before 9 a.m. Thursday by the Columbus Fire and Rescue Dive Team. They were called at about 7:30 a.m. after Rice couldn’t be found at his work location.

Rice worked for JIMCO, which is a Tronox Contractor. The Hamilton plant is the third largest chemical plant of its kind in the world. It employs about 600 permanent and contract workers.

STATEMENT FROM TRONOX AND JIMCO

JIMCO and Tronox would again like to express our sympathy to the family and friends of Mr. George Rice.

This was an unfortunate accident and as you can imagine, it has affected all of us at JIMCO and Tronox, as well as the local community.

At this point, there is no additional information regarding the cause of the accident or Mr. Rice’s death.

Both companies are working with authorities in conducting a thorough investigation. At present, all dredging operations have been suspended and the site of the accident has been isolated to allow teams from both companies and external experts to conduct their investigation.

Tronox and JIMCO remain dedicated to the highest levels of safety in all our operations. Once the cause of this accident is determined, we will take any necessary actions to ensure that it does not happen again.

Again, we wish to share our condolences with the Rice family for their loss.

Categories: Local News

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