…two other ranks injured, GDF launches CoI

THE quietude of the communities near the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Base Camp Stephenson at Timehri was shattered on Thursday morning after a stack of pyrotechnics exploded, killing three soldiers and injuring two.

Dead is Lance Corporal Kevon Nicholson, 23, of Levi Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam; Lance Corporal Tooney Peneux, 28, of Orealla Village, Corentyne River and Private Shaqueel Deheart, 20, of Paradise Village, West Coast Berbice.

Those injured are Sergeant Quincy Threlfall, 43, and Lance Corporal Paul Peters, 29.Threlfall is currently receiving medical care at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), while Lance Corporal Peters was treated at Base Camp Stephenson.
Reports are that around 0900hrs, the ranks were at the arms store when the explosion took place.

The GDF said in a statement that preliminary investigations revealed that the soldiers were involved in the preparation of Pyrotechnics for demolition when the incident occurred.
Commander-in-chief of the armed forces, President David Granger, GDF Chief-of-staff Brigadier Patrick West along with officers and other ranks of the force have extended condolences to the families and friends of the deceased.

The Head of State wished the injured ranks a speedy recovery and according to a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency, a Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the circumstances surrounding the incident has been launched by the GDF. When this newspaper visited the Timehri area on Thursday, the explosion was the central topic of conversation at most households.

A resident who lives in the compound close to Camp Stephenson said that she was taking a nap when she was awakened by a loud explosion. ”I heard this loud sound, I think this sound was heard as far as the airport terminal,” she said, noting that she saw vehicles speeding to and from the area in the aftermath of the explosion. She said the movement of the vehicles seemed odd and about 10 minutes later, a GDF rank on a motorcycle related that an explosion had killed some of his colleagues.

Later, the sound of an ambulance was heard in the distance and a GDF helicopter was later seen hovering over the base as concerned ranks gathered to discuss the incident.

At the Timehri North area, Leslie Francis elaborated on the loud “boom” he heard as he prepared to leave his home for the road. ”Everybody hear it, it wasn’t normal and I think they got to be more careful,” Francis said. A security guard who works in the area told the Guyana Chronicle that he was still shaken by the explosion. ”This thing was loud and a soldier who came out after the explosion told me that the heat had something to do with it,” the man said.

He said that the rank explained that the area where the pyrotechnics are stored isn’t ventilated properly and as such, the temperature could have played a role in the explosion.

On February 22, 2020, several GDF ranks were injured by an explosion while the ranks were offloading pyrotechnic devices for Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary fireworks display at the army’s coastguard base at Ruimveldt in the city. Corporal Seon Ross subsequently died at the GPHC while being treated for injuries he sustained during the explosion. The GDF said that the time that “spontaneous combustion” occurred while the ranks were offloading the explosive material. On the morning of December,18 , 2000, several soldiers were injured after a series of explosions rocked the GDF Camp Groomes base off the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. Following the inferno which levelled the base, three soldiers died. The ranks were guarding a munitions bond when it exploded.