The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has started an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of worker Mohamed Oosman, following an accident at the Rose Hall Estate, East Berbice on Monday night.
An investigating team made up of Orin Morris from the company’s head office as well as the Rose Hall estate manager, the health and safety manager and others, visited the site of the accident yesterday morning. They also visited Oosman’s family and offered their condolences and vowed to offer their assistance in preparation for his wake.
Adesh Singh, Human Resource Manager at the Rose Hall estate, yesterday told reporters that the accident occurred at about 7.20pm in the cultivation area.
Oosman, also known as ‘Amin,’ 30, of Lot 73 East Canefield, East Canje, was operating a bell loader [a machine that is used in the field to pick up harvested cane and transfer it to the punts] that fell into a canal.
Stabroek News was told Oosman was crossing over the canal on a makeshift bridge from the access road to the field when the boards of the bridge loosened and the bell loader toppled into the canal.
It is unclear if Oosman attempted to jump out of the machine but the upper half of his body was pinned underneath it in the water, relatives related.
Although Oosman’s coworkers dove into the canal and attempted to remove him, their efforts were futile.
According to a worker, who asked not to be named, they had to use a plow tractor to move the machine before removing Oosman from the canal. The worker stated that the rescue took approximately 20 minutes. After an unconscious Oosman was recovered, he was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital and pronounced dead approximately ten minutes after.
