The director of a company in charge of cleaning out a manure silo, during which three people died, has been sentenced to 240 hours community service for negligence.

The company itself has been fined €100,000 for failing to take sufficient safety measures by judges in Zwolle.

The first man died after being overcome with fumes while cleaning out the silo at a farm. The other two victims had gone to try and help him.

The court was told there were no emergency procedures in place and practically no way of leaving the silo if there were problems. In addition, the compressor which was supposed to supply clean air to the men’s masks was not suitable for a closed space with so much poisonous gas.

‘The workers were left to their fate,’ the prosecution department said.