A father of four, of Met-en-Meerzorg, West Coast Demerara, died on Friday after he came into contact with live electrical wires.
Carl Benjamin, 35, was working at the A. Forrester Lumberyard at Stewartville, West Coast Deme-rara, when he was electrocuted.
A man who was at the scene at the time of the incident but did not want to be named told Sunday Stabroek that Benjamin was part of a construction crew that was completing works on a fence at the lumberyard. After the team finished plastering the fence on Thursday, Benjamin decided to cover it with a piece of plastic to prevent rainfall from damaging the material.
By Friday, because of heavy rainfall, the plastic was blown off of the fence. Benjamin, noticing that the fence without the plastic, decided to cover it again.
While trying to cover the fence, the eyewitness said, Benjamin was electrocuted and his body fell on top of the structure that they were using to make repairs to the upper section of the fence.
Benjamin’s mother, Carmen Skeete, told Sunday Stabroek that she was told that while he was trying to fit the plastic over the fence, his hand came into contact with some exposed wires.
Benjamin was rushed to the West Demerara Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Skeete explained that her son has only been working at the site for four months. She said she has not received any words from Benjamin’s employer but was sent to the contractor, who she identified as “Ruben.”
However, she was later told that Ruben fell ill after witnessing the incident and was also currently hospitalised at the West Demerara Hospital.
Benjamin’s wife, Jennifer, said she was not aware of what exactly transpired and only received a call on Friday afternoon from her brother-in-law, who informed her about the incident.
