Workers killed in trench cave-in
Published:Friday | November 12, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer
Tragedy struck at a construction site on Barbican Road in St Andrew yesterday afternoon, leaving two workmen dead and another hospitalised.
The men were reportedly laying pipes in a trench in the vicinity of the Chinese Cultural Centre when the embankment caved in, trapping them beneath mounds of dirt.
The police and fire departments were summoned, but the men perished before help could reach them.
The dead men have been identified as 27-year-old Orlando Bennett and Kirk 'Cornerstone' Vernon, whose body was still trapped beneath the rubble when The Gleaner visited the area just moments after the accident occurred.
The third man, Johnny Reid, was reportedly injured when he attempted to rescue the other two.
He was taken to the University Hospital of the West Indies where he was being treated.
When The Gleaner arrived, the police had cordoned off the area to allow the fire department to carry out its rescue mission to recover Vernon's body.
Separate investigations
In a release yesterday evening, the National Water Commission (NWC) said it had been advised of the accident by Ronham & Associates Ltd, an independent contractor undertaking the construction of sanitary collector sewers along a section of Barbican Road in St Andrew.
"Emergency services personnel have been called to the scene and various investigations are under way," the NWC said, adding that it deeply regretted the incident and that the commission had launched its own investigation into the incident to determine all the facts.
A large crowd, including family members and friends of the victims, gathered at the scene and had a hard time coming to grips with what had taken place. Marjorie Nelson, Bennett's mother, wept openly as she moaned, "Neily gone ... Neily gone."
Nelson had to be consoled by a friend as she grieved the loss of her son.
Marlene Williams and Ena Forbes, Vernon's sister and aunt, respectively, both waited patiently for his body to be recovered.