T&T man falls to death running from rain

Andy Manyair

(Trinidad Guardian) Tropical Storm Bret is being indirectly blamed for the death of a 43-year-old construction worker in East Trinidad yesterday.

Andy Manyair died during a desperate dash to escape the heavy rains brought by the storm, when he fell and broke his neck.

It was first reported that Manyair fell off the roof of his home at Mt Pleasant, Arima, while trying to secure the galvanize sheets from being ripped off by Bret.

However, relative confirmed yesterday that Manyair, a part time DJ, fell some ten feet to his death at his recently constructed Las Lomas home while running through heavy rain.

They believe Manyair, who went by the sobriquet “DJ Channas,” was crossing the wet decking pan he used as a makeshift bridge from his home to the roadway when he slipped and fell sometime between 3 am and 4 am yesterday.

Relatives believe after spending some time stuck in his car due to the heavy rains, Manyair decided to run home. He was found some time later in the drain under the makeshift bridge, barely breathing. They said when the contacted the emergency health services they were told what to do assist him until they arrived. Unfortunately, by the time medical officials arrived Manyair had died.

“He was a real dedicated family man. He build this home from the ground up and made sure his family moved in for Christmas gone. Right now the family not taking this well at all,” a female relative told the T&T Guardian.

Andy Manyair

Relatives said earlier in the day Manyair, father of a 2-year-old son, had complained about the hazardous nature of makeshift bridge in the rainy season.

Bret grew into a storm from a tropical depression around 5 pm on Monday and by 5 am yesterday had already passed, leaving millions in destruction in its wake.

Bret affected Trinidad and Tobago as well as Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines and continued westward, losing its storm status yesterday.