No charges filed in death of worker at Thilafushi WAMCO site

The Prosecutor General's Office has decided not to prosecute the excavator operator involved in an incident at the Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO) site in K. Thilafushi that resulted in the death of a foreign worker.

The incident occurred in January and claimed the life of 24-year-old Bangladeshi national Amin Mia.

According to police, Amin Mia was struck by the bucket of an excavator while waste was being cleared at the site. He fell into a pile of waste and was carried along as waste was moved before more debris was deposited over him.

Police previously said CCTV footage showed the excavator bucket striking Amin Mia, after which work continued. His body was recovered from beneath the waste two days after he was reported missing, and the incident was reported to police after the body was found.

Following their investigation, police submitted the case to the Prosecutor General's Office, seeking to prosecute the excavator operator, 32-year-old Sri Lankan national Heshan Maduranga Disanayaka, on a charge of intentional homicide.

Although he was arrested during the investigation, he has since been deported from the Maldives.

The Prosecutor General's Office said it decided in April not to proceed with prosecution and returned the case to police.

According to the office, investigators conducted a reconstruction of the incident with Heshan Maduranga at the site and concluded that, given the lighting conditions and working environment, there was no evidence that he could have known someone was in the area.

The office said Amin Mia was standing about 10 feet from the excavator at the time of the incident.

It also found that his assigned duties did not require him to be in that location and that entry into the waste disposal area was prohibited because of the risks involved.

The Prosecutor General's Office further said the investigation found no evidence of any personal dispute or hostility between Amin Mia and the excavator operator.