Wayne Benjamin, the mechanic who was reportedly killed during a mining pit cave-in, was laid to rest on Friday amid questions surrounding the circumstances of his death.
A post-mortem examination done on Friday at the Georgetown Hospital Mortuary revealed that he died from drowning, his brother, Carlet told Stabroek News.
He said that the family is still not satisfied with the explanation that has been given by his employer, who is also his uncle.
According to Carlet, his uncle paid for the coffin. However, neither he nor his family attended the funeral, which was held shortly after the autopsy was conducted.
After explaining that the body had to be buried as soon as possible, owing to its decomposing state, Carlet said that his uncle, along with his wife, met with the dead man’s parents. He said that the man did not go to the parlour to pay for the coffin, instead, he sent someone. “We are burying him here today but our hearts are still in pain because of this situation,” he added.
Benjamin, 23, who was laid to rest at the Friendship cemetery, was reportedly buried alive in a mining pit in an area close to Mahdia last Sunday.
His decomposing remains were brought to the city by police on Wednesday.
This newspaper had been told that Benjamin had been working in the interior for about a year and at the time of his death was employed on a land dredge.
His brother, Mark, had said Benjamin was a trained mechanic and he has since heard that in addition to this he worked in the pit and was the general manager. He said that three weeks ago his brother left home on his fourth trip to the interior location; it was his second stint working with the relative.
He recalled that late Sunday afternoon, a family friend called and said that Wayne had been involved in an accident and would be flown out of the area since his condition was critical. Minutes later, the same person called back saying that he had died.
Relatives had told Stabroek News that they are still to get all the facts and were awaiting the arrival of the relatives from the interior.
