ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow was sceptical yesterday over Qatar’s claims that they will hold an investigation into the death of a British worker on a building site for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Concerns are finally being raised in the blood-soaked Gulf state after the investigation in question was opened into why a British man fell to his death.

However, Burrow told the Star that the details are still being “suppressed” as to the “real human cost” and said that if there is an actual investigation, it needs to be done as “quickly as possible.”

She said: “A proper inquest can take months to complete, however Qatar has an appalling track record with hundreds of foreign workers there losing their lives every year, with the vast majority of cases not being investigated at all.

“The real human cost of Qatar’s massive World Cup infrastructure programme is being suppressed and the authorities still refuse to accept their responsibility to protect the people who are building the country’s future. 

“The true circumstances of this and other tragedies must be investigated thoroughly and as quickly as possible, for the sake of families of the deceased and for lessons to be learned and applied so that further loss of life can be prevented.”

World Cup organisers released partial findings of an assessment of the accident at the Khalifa International Stadium, but said the full report cannot be released while local authorities continue their own investigation. 

It is one of two work-related deaths detailed in Qatar’s latest welfare report on preparations for the 2022 tournament, which currently involves 12,367 workers on eight construction sites.

The 40-year-old British man fell 218ft in January after one end of the roof catwalk he was installing dropped and a safety rope snapped.

“During the course of the investigation, the team had raised concerns with the method of installation of the raised catwalk system,” the welfare report from Qatar’s World Cup organisers stated. 

“This required further investigation regarding the method itself and the supervision skills of the specialist contractor staff.”

This has supposedly led to “corrective and preventative actions” being implemented by the contractor, a joint venture between Belgian and Qatari firms, along with safety checks across all stadium sites, the report said.