PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) -
Lee Thibodeaux's daughter spent this day planning his funeral and asking questions about what lead to an industrial accident that killed her dad. The 66-year-old Pascagoula man died Monday around 11 at VT Halter Marine shipyard in Pascagoula.
Federal investigators are looking for answers, but it may take a while. And that only adds to the heartbreak the Thibodeaux's family is enduring right now.
"I cannot believe this."
Just the thought of never seeing her dad again, brings Beverly Williams to tears. As her friend Lasonia Davison tries to comfort her, they remember Lee Thibodeaux as a lovable, hard working man.
"It had to be something very, very wrong with my father not to go to Halter Marine. He acted as if the gates could not open without him," Williams said.
At the shipyard in Pascagoula, a flag is flying half staff in Thibodeaux's honor. Thibodeaux was a sand blaster, and though he was doing work related to that, Company CEO Bill Skinner could not say what caused the accident that killed him. Federal investigators are working to answer those questions. But what the family has heard so far, Thibodeaux died a violent death.
"They told me something blew up, and then part of his face was unrecognizable," Williams said.
Williams said her family is just heartbroken.
"You just don't know what to believe."
Thibodeaux's family knows VT Halter was cited for major safety violations and a $1.3 million after a 2009 explosion, which killed two workers. The family is not casting blame right now, but Williams said they deserve answers.
"I would really like to get answers. If it is a safety issue, your people are your most important of all," Williams said.
And part of protecting employees, these women hope VT Halter takes a closer look at safety in the future.
"Go over their polices and start doing more to make more people and the other people that work there safer than what they have done thus far," Davison said.
As Thibodeaux's loved ones plan his funeral, they pray answers about the accident will give them a closure.
"My daddy is gone. I just don't have any words to say for it."
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