Another mining accident has left one man dead while another is nursing injuries about his body after a
Dead: Ricky Hughes1
mining pit collapsed at Omai Gold Mine, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). The dead man has been identified as Ricky Hughes, 45, of Lot 90 Glasgow, East Bank Berbice.
Reports are the man, who operated an excavator, came too close to the edge of the mining pit it was prospecting, causing the soil to break away.
The equipment reportedly landed on its side in the flooded mine pit with Hughes strapped to the driver’s seat. The excavator was completely submerged. Guyana Times understands that the depth of the pit is about 15 feet. After sometime, the now dead man was pulled from the water in an unconscious state but had no visible sign of injuries to his body.
He was picked up, placed into a 4Runner and taken to the Omai Airstrip where he was air dashed to Georgetown for medical attention. This publication was told that there were no medical personnel at the mining facility at the time of the incident.
The man succumbed while being transported to the city. The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission has launched an investigation into the incident. Heliantha Hughes, wife of the dead father of seven, told Guyana Times that the post-mortem examination revealed that her husband died from drowning.
She explained that she left her husband in the interior about two weeks ago to look after some business at home. She said she worked along with her husband in the mining camp for the past two months.
They both travelled into the interior in January but only recently, her husband started to operate the excavator at the location where he met his demise. The dead man leaves to mourn his wife, seven children and siblings.
