DEON Alphonso-King, age 46 of 109 Best Road, West Coast Demerara yesterday morning met a gruesome death after the Puran Brothers garbage-collecting truck on which he was working crushed him to death.The incident took place in the community of Eccles, East Bank Demerara just after 08:00hrs when King and two other porters along with the driver of the truck GSS 3484 were collecting waste and emptying garbage receptacles from the community into the truck.
Speaking with this publication at the scene of the incident was driver of the truck, Suresh Mahadeo. The man explained that prior to the incident, King and another porter had just emptied a receptacle into the truck and while the other porter was walking beside the truck, King was directing him out of a “dead-end” street.
According to Mahadeo, he had his eyes on King all the time through the left-side rear view mirror and by the time he glanced into the right-side mirror and looked back to the left side, King was nowhere in sight.
Immediately after, he heard the other porter shouting for him to “hold”. Mahadeo said he was not sure if King tried to cross to the other side of the road from behind the truck or to get onto the truck, but when he came out of the vehicle the man was under the vehicle and the truck appeared to have rolled over him. He stressed that he did not feel any unusual bump or such, since the vehicle was loaded with garbage. Mahadeo said that he has been driving garbage trucks for the past 10 years.
Also present at the scene of the incident was Miriam Burke, the mother of the dead man. The woman said that she was at home when she received the news that her son was killed. Another relative, the man’s sister-in-law, reported that she had earlier spoken to her brother-in-law who asked her to put aside some ground provisions for him from her greens stand, as he wanted to have a meal of boiled and fried provisions when he got home.
The father of four leaves to mourn his children, parents, siblings and other relatives and friends. Up to late yesterday afternoon the driver of the truck was still assisting the police with their investigation. Efforts to contact the Puran Brothers Disposal Service for a comment on the incident were unsuccessful.
By Leroy Smith