As games draw to a close, plight of migrant workers has cast a shadow over World Cup
Boniface Barasa worked for three years as a construction worker in Qatar, but the life-long football fan now says he was so traumatized by the experience that he was torn about watching matches during the World Cup.
Barasa, 38, says he witnessed a co-worker die after collapsing from the extreme heat, which can get as high as 120 degrees. He suspects that person could have been dehydrated because of limited water breaks offered to workers.
CNN could not independently verify his claim.
He added: “I saw the supervisor call another Kenyan a lazy Black monkey. Then when the Kenyan asked him: ‘Why are you calling me a Black monkey?’ the supervisor slapped him,” Barasa, who worked on the Lusail stadium, told CNN.
His account echoes those of other foreign workers, mostly from South Asia and Africa, who’ve played a significant role in preparing the country for the World Cup.
Authorities have acknowledged hundreds of deaths in construction and related industries in the 13 years since FIFA awarded the tournament to the Gulf nation.
On December 10, 24-year-old Kenyan security guard John Njue Kibue fell from the eighth floor of Lusail stadium and died in the hospital, his family told CNN.
Another died at a resort used by Saudi Arabia during the group stages of the tournament.
Organizers say they are investigating Kibue’s death, which has renewed scrutiny of Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers as the World Cup draws to a close.
