AN INQUEST has questioned why a man entered a grain storage silo without following the correct procedure.

Balwinder Singh Aulkh, 46, an employee at the Veetee Rice Company on the Medway City Estate at Strood, told his colleague Mohammed Arshad that he was going to check the flow of rice in silo 10 after a computer showed a problem.

Minutes later Mr Arshad found Mr Singh screaming for help inside the silo, his leg trapped in a corkscrew mechanism.

Paramedics amputated his leg. But Mr Singh, who lived in Gravesend, died in the ambulance en route to hospital.

David Crewe, head of manufacturing at Veetee Rice, said there was no reason why Mr Singh should enter the silo. A maintenance team should have been called or Mr Singh should have requested a permit to gain access.

* SEE MONDAY'S MEDWAY MESSENGER FOR THE FULL REPORT.