3 dead, 2 injured after armoury explodes at Camp Stephenson

Three soldiers were killed and two others were injured following a sudden explosion at the armory at the Guyana Defence Force’s Base Camp Stephenson at Timehri, East Bank Demerara on Thursday morning.

The dead ranks have been identified as 23-year-old Lance Corporal Kevon Nicholson of Levi Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice; 28-year-old Lance Corporal Toohey Peneux of Orealla Village, Corentyne River; and 20-year-old Private Shaqueel Deheart, of Paradise Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB). They all served with the GDF 4 Engineer Battalion.
According to a statement from the GDF, the incident occurred around 09:00h at the Arms Store Complex of Camp Stephenson. The statement said, “Preliminary investigations has so far revealed that the soldiers were involved in

the preparation of pyrotechnics (fireworks) for demolition when the incident occurred.”

Guyana Times understands that moments before the explosion, another group of ranks had gone into the armory to uplift weapons for the ’21-gun salute’ ceremony at the funeral of a colleague, which was set for Thursday in Berbice. One of the ranks told this newspaper that when they went into the stores, they saw the Engineer batch in there, and shortly after they left, and were in the bus

heading out of the compound when they heard the blast.
Following the explosion, the injured soldiers were air-dashed to Base Camp Ayanganna in Georgetown, where 29-year-old Lance Corporal Paul Peters was treated for minor injuries, while 43-year-old Sergeant Quincy Threlfall was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), where he was admitted a patient. His condition is listed as stable.

In a telephone interview, his brother Marlon Threlfall told Guyana Times that he was

informed of the incident by another rank.

“One of his squaddy – a solider girl – come and say something happened and they bringing down some soldiers to Georgetown Hospital, so I went down there… I saw him talking and everything, but I didn’t get to go in to see him,” the man related.

Marlon said he was told by one of Quincy’s colleagues that Quincy had sustained injuries to one of his eyes and his abdominal region.
Meanwhile, this newspaper also spoke with the grieving mother of Lance Corporal Nicholson, Cheryl Nicholson, who related that her son had been a jolly young man who was always smiling.
“From the time he hit the gate and he see us, he got a broad smile,” the woman recalled.
She added that he was also caring and would always ensure that all their needs were fulfilled. In fact, it was only on April 22 that Kevon had taken his mother shopping when he had gone home.
“For a long while he didn’t go shopping with me, but Saturday he went shopping with we. He made sure we shop everything, and when he come back [home from shopping] he was jolly and just happy,” she related.
Recalling that her son had always wanted to be a soldier, Cheryl said that Kevon returned to work a few days after that shopping incident, but she did not know it was the last time she would have seen him alive.
“He tell me he have to go back on Tuesday, which in he did went back on Tuesday afternoon. But I didn’t see him before he leave, because I was sleeping. Only to hear this morning that he died. He was so gentle, a mannerly young man. I never get a bad complaint concerning him,” she reminisced.
When contacted, Laddy Peneux, father of 28-year-old Lance Corporal Toohey, told this publication that he learnt of Toohey’s death from another son, who informed him that there was an explosion at the Base in Timehri.
He related that his son then went to the hospital, where he positively identified his brother as one of the three soldiers who died in the explosion.
The emotionally disturbed man related that Toohey was the youngest of his five children and he always wanted to be a soldier. He noted that the family had last seen the 28-year-old solider back in December, but had spoken with him around 21:00h on Wednesday night – just hours before his demise the following morning.
The elder Peneux noted that family members later received a phone call from the army confirming his son’s death, but no explanation was offered in regard to what had transpired. To this end, the elderly Peneux is calling for justice.
“I want them to get to the bottom of this, because nobody didn’t say what exactly happened. All they say is they will investigate what make the bomb explode… I want my son to come home to bury. He was a very supportive boy to our family,” the man stated.
The grieving father lamented that the GDF had failed to protect his son.
“The Guyana Defence Force didn’t protect him! He was on duty, and the army not protecting the soldiers in any way,” the man contended.
Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Patrick West, and both Commander-in-Chief President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo have extended condolences to the family and friends of the deceased ranks, and best wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured.
It was also announced that a Board of Inquiry (BoI) has been launched into Thursday’s incident, which has occurred just over two months after an explosion of fireworks at the GDF Coast Guard Headquarters in Ruimveldt, Georgetown, where several ranks had also been injured.
At the time, the soldiers were preparing for the annual fireworks display to usher in Guyana’s 50th Republic Day Anniversary. That incident claimed the life of 23-year-old Corporal Seon Rose, who had sustained third-degree burns.
In fact, during a virtual press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo called for a thorough probe into this latest incident.
“I hope that the investigation will look at what took place, because one would have expected that if we know the pyrotechnic ordinance is unstable, then greater precaution should have been taken. And we knew the pyrotechnic ordinance is unstable, given that just a few short months back we had another explosion…,” the Opposition Leader stated.