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Loved ones are mourning the loss of a 50-year-old man who died on the job at Amazon’s London-area distribution centre, launching a crowdfunding campaign to support his widow and young son.
Paulo DeSouza Bezerra died suddenly after being rushed from the Amazon facility where he worked to a St. Thomas hospital. He was working the Sunday night shift at the mega-plant when, about an hour before he collapsed, workers were sent into wind-chill temperatures of -20 C due to a fire alarm.
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Company officials tell The Free Press workers were allowed back indoors after about 17 minutes, a timeframe confirmed by the local fire chief. But one worker estimated they were outside longer than that and were not allowed to go to their vehicles for warmth – a detail Amazon officials say is untrue and contradicted by security footage.
DeSouza Bezerra, who emigrated from Brazil, is survived by his wife of 25 years and his young son, his obituary states. An online fundraiser launched by a family friend said DeSouza Bezerra’s surviving kin are living “their worst nightmare.”
“Everyone who knows this family knows how much they love each other and how much they fought to realize all of their dreams together,” the online crowdfunding campaign states, adding DeSouza Bezerra will be missed by family and friends in Canada and his native Brazil.
“He was a wonderful father, husband and son. He was pure joy, always sharing his jokes with everyone around.”
Friday, a friend declined comment to The Free Press on behalf of the family.
The GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $16,000 toward its $25,000 goal as of Friday morning. A visitation and funeral service is set for Saturday. The campaign organizer writes he died of a heart attack.
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Amazon Canada on Thursday confirmed the death of one of its Talbotville distribution centre workers and said it is providing support, including counselling, to anyone at the site who needs it.
The worker collapsed near their work station about an hour after staff returned to the building following the fire alarm. The alarm sent workers outdoors from about 11:10 to 11:27 p.m. Sunday, a night when the local temperature felt as cold as -25 C in some areas and local public-health officials issued a cold weather alert.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour is investigating the workplace death.
One stunned co-worker who saw emergency crews trying to revive her colleague disputed the length of time employees were out in the cold, saying it was longer than 17 minutes. The worker, who The Free Press is not identifying, said they tried to stay warm inside a vehicle but a supervisor ordered them out of the vehicle twice.
An Amazon spokesperson denied workers were kept from their vehicles, adding the company has video of several workers waiting in their cars to return to the workplace.
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Southwold Township’s fire chief said the building had been evacuated before firefighters arrived and crews had the scene cleared in 18 minutes. Fire crews did not report any injuries during the initial call.
Employees were provided with cold-weather kits when they were exiting the building, including blankets, hats, gloves and socks, a spokesperson for Amazon Canada told The Free Press. The worker said there were blankets doled out but not enough for everyone.
The two-million-square-foot Amazon complex where DeSouza Bezerra worked opened in the fall on the former site of the Ford assembly plant in Talbotville, south of London. More than 1,000 workers are employed at the facility, which has the capacity to process 750,000 parcels a day.
jbieman@postmedia.com
EDITOR’S NOTE: Were you at Amazon’s Talbotville plant during the Jan. 15 fire alarm? To speak to a Free Press journalist, call 226-268-6362. Your name will not be published in any story.
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