A Linden man on Thursday succumbed after a log fell on him at the sawmill at which he was employed. Dead is 20-year-old Stephan Brathwaite called ‘Grinch’ of 100 Block 22 Squatting Area Wismar, Linden. According to the police, the fatal accident occurred at around 08:30hrs at R.I. Forest Products, Sawmill and Lumber Yard, which is located on Blue Berry Hill Wismar, Linden and owned by Raymond Prepont.

According to the investigation carried out by the police, it was revealed that Brathwaite was, at the time, servicing one of the trucks in the compound. He then went to another truck, which had logs being off loaded, to draw fuel from the tank to put into a filter. It was while in the process of extracting the fuel, one of the logs slide off the truck and pinned him to the ground, across his abdomen and thighs causing his intestine to protrude.
Upon hearing the noise of the log sliding off and a short scream from the deceased, several employees of the said company rushed to his assistance. They managed to remove the log from on top of him and rushed him to the Linden Hospital Complex. He was pronounced dead on arrival. The body is presently at the Wismar Hospital Mortuary awaiting a Post Mortem Examination.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, his father, Francis Brathwaite said that he was at work when he received a phone call that his son got into an accident at work. He immediately journeyed to the Linden Hospital Complex where he saw his son lying dead under a sheet. “When I raise up the sheet, all his guts protruding out. When a leave the hospital and went to the scene where the accident occur, his slippers was still there on the sand and the timber left stick down in the ground that kill him.” He said that the workers related that the truck was parked and one of the men loosed the chain off the timber and Brathwaite came to that side but the man reportedly did not know and the lumber fell off, pinning Brathwaite to the ground. The father said he last spoke to his son on Saturday and that he had been working at the lumber yard a few years to provide for his two young children. Francis said that the owner of the lumber yard has offered to cover the funeral expenses and to give compensation to his children.