Father of four electrocuted while picking cherries

A Corentyne labourer was electrocuted yesterday morning in his yard after he came into contact with a live wire that was dislodged from his neighbour’s antenna.

Lalchan ‘Burnham’ Deonarine, 42, of Lot 1 Seawell Village, Corentyne, was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lalchan Deonarine

His wife, Taramattie Somedat, a domestic worker, told Stabroek News that the wire had apparently fallen on her cherry tree during the rain the night before.

She said around 7.30 am, her husband told her he was hungry and was waiting on her to prepare his breakfast. He went to pick cherries in the meantime without realizing the wire was on the tree.

Somedat recalled that she was about to “strain the rice” when she heard her daughter shouting that her father had fallen on the ground.

She said she forgot about the rice and ran out to his assistance, but was almost shocked as she attempted to pull the wire off him.

A resident then ran to their assistance and used a bamboo he had in his hand to push away the wire. Deonarine was still breathing when they picked him up and rushed him to the hospital, she said.

According to Somedat, it seemed as though her husband had “stretched his hand” over the concrete fence into the neighbour’s yard to pick the cherries when he met his demise. She said too that “the current pitched him to the ground.”

Deonarine leaves to mourn his wife and four children, aged 17, 14, 10 and eight years old.