Moroccan Farmworker Dies from Heat Exhaustion in Spanish Greenhouse, Leaves Family Behind

The victim, aged 42, and his Moroccan compatriot, worked all day on Thursday in a tomato greenhouse in the region, the latter said in his statement. The man had a wife and two children in Morocco and went every morning to look for work in the greenhouses in the region, his neighbors told the investigators.

The compatriot recounts that they worked from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., took a break and resumed work at 4:30 p.m. It was then that the man began to have persistent discomfort, which led him to leave the greenhouse. His compatriot followed him to see how he was doing, and that’s when he collapsed and lost consciousness, reports La Opinion de Murcia.

Alerted, local police officers quickly rushed to the scene. The Moroccan was then taken in critical condition to the Santa Lucía de Cartagena hospital where he died a few hours later. His body was transferred to the headquarters of the Cartagena Institute of Forensic Medicine for the autopsy that will determine the exact cause of death.

According to the initial investigation, the man died of heat stroke. A thesis confirmed on Thursday by the Ministry of Health. This is the first case of death from heat stroke recorded this year in the Murcia region, hit by a heat wave in recent days, with temperatures reaching up to 42 degrees.