Identifying the victim was quite difficult, because the man was working under a different identity. The fifty-year-old worker had taken the place of a working partner of the Brussels company MDR. In reality, according to the Public Prosecution Service, both construction workers should have been registered as employees. They arrived at the shipyard through the company TDM from Eeklo, which acted as an intermediary when Artes Depret needed extra manpower.
The labor auditor stated that Artes Depret did indeed bear a great responsibility, because they did not have an emergency procedure in the event of an impending collapse of a building. A fine of 33,600 euros was demanded for them. MDR and TDM risked a fine of 24,000 euros for the industrial accident. MDR faced an additional fine of 48,000 euros for undeclared work.