Tragic Tanker Truck incident leaves family asking questions

A family is devastated after the tragic loss of a young man who died in an industrial incident in Hamilton on Thursday.
It happened when 25 year old Kalvin Richards became trapped in a tanker vehicle while on the job at Toronto Tank Lines on Eastport Drive.

He leaves behind a five month old daughter, and a girlfriend who has many unanswered questions about his death.

Five month old Ruby, who undeniably has her father’s smile, will grow up without knowing Kalvin Richards.

Richards girlfriend, Macey Cherrington says she will do her best to tell her daughter how much her dad loved her.

Richards worked cleaning tank trailers. On Thursday, he went into a tank that had canola oil and nitrogen inside.

His girlfriend says, the canola oil tanks are supposed to be cleaned or spun before anyone gets inside.

He went in by himself. Cherrington says another co worker went in to look for him, he became trapped as well.

Cherrington says Richards became unconscious because of the nitrogen. Hamilton Fire preformed what they call a confined space rescue to save the two men who were trapped.

Richards died in hospital, his co-worker, who was closer to the opening of the tank survived.

Cherrington says Richards often complained about his work conditions.

“There was never any protective equipment. The way they did things was just not right. He did refuse unsafe work sometimes” Cherrington told us.

The incident is under investigation by Employment and Social Development Canada. Richard’s family has been left with a number of questions.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family, to raise funds for the couple’s five month old daughter.