Dhanchand Balkishun, the departing passenger who died after a fall at the Timehri airport on Saturday never reached the steps of the aircraft, according to a statement yesterday from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation.
It said that Balkishun, 57, an American resident of Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice “was boarding Caribbean Airlines flight BW424 at approximately 1420hrs on Saturday 19th June 2010 when he collapsed on the International Apron.” The man passed away on Sunday at the Georgetown Hospital.
According to the release an investigation launched by the Airport Corporation following a report in yesterday’s Stabroek News also revealed that Balkishun was the fourth passenger in the queue standing on the apron waiting to ascend the forward aircraft stairs.
“As he was standing in line, he fell forward onto the apron in an unconscious state. Mr Balkishun never reached the aircraft steps.”
The man’s wife, Akleema Balkishun had said that her husband told her that he fell off the stairs. Contacted by Stabroek News yesterday, she said her husband suffered a hit to the back of his head and could not have fallen forward.
She also doubted that he was in the line, recalling that when an airline official called her she mentioned that her husband had fallen off the stairs.
She said too that one of his elbows had a swelling and the other had a “black-and-blue mark.”
The release from the airport corporation further stated that, “Airport employees in the immediate vicinity, some of whom are trained first responders, reacted quickly and professionally to the incident by placing the passenger on a stretcher and transporting him by vehicle to the nearby GDF Base Camp Stephenson’s Medical Facility.”
It also said that at the medical facility Balkishun regained consciousness after treatment and that, “His family was contacted and was not in favour of him being dispatched to the Diamond Trauma Centre in their absence.”
The passenger was returned to the airport to await the arrival of his relatives. He subsequently departed with them at 5:15 pm and was advised to seek follow up medical attention, the release said.
Meanwhile, the female official who had contacted the man’s wife had checked his phonebook and called a resident at Bush Lot who subsequently obtained a number for the driver of the taxi that took Akleema to the airport.
Stabroek News also spoke to the resident yesterday who the airline official contacted and she said the official informed her that Balkishun had been in an accident and that she needed a number for his close relative.
The resident said Akleema did not have a cellular phone so she promised the official to get a number for the taxi driver and return a call to her.
Shortly after she called the official to give her the number and she asked her what exactly had happened to Balkishun. She said the official responded that he “fell off the plane stairs and was in a critical condition.”
The resident said she inquired whether someone there could have taken him to the hospital and the official said they preferred the relatives to do so themselves.
Balkishun who died on Sunday morning at the Georgetown Public Hospital was at first taken to the Diamond Hospital where an injection for pain was administered and he was sent home.
However, half an hour after arriving home, Akleema noticed that her husband appeared delirious and she rushed him to the Mahaicony Hospital where it was suspected that something was wrong with his brain.
He was immediately transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital and was admitted a patient.
The following morning, while in an unconscious state, he was referred to have a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) done of his brain.
The scan revealed that he had sustained a fractured skull and haemorrhage. He subsequently died.
