A foreman working on a road project at Bhagwandas Street in Queenstown, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) was tragically killed on Saturday after he was crushed by an excavator.
Dead: Mervin Lochan
Dead is 36-year-old Mervin Lochan, of Sparta, Essequibo Coast. Lochan was a father of four and had recently been promoted to foreman on the road construction site.
Lochan’s body was found buried under sand
Reports indicate that the excavator was reversing when it allegedly struck Lochan, crushing his head. His body was later found buried under sand. Workers rushed to help but were unable to save him.
During an interview with Guyana Times, his mother, Yolanda Lochan said that she was at home when she received the shocking phone call. She added that her son left for work around 07:45h the morning in good spirits.
Mother, Yolanda Lochan
“I was at home, and I received a phone call. This morning, he leave to go to work, and like around quarter to eight, he leave home. He tell me he going… you know, with a good spirit. He say, ‘Mom, I leavin’ now,” she recalled.
Expressing her frustration and grief, the mother questioned how such an incident could have occurred. “How come an excavator operator can’t see a worker if he was around or whatever?” she asked.
She described her son as a devoted family man.
The excavator that struck and crushed Mervin Lochan
“My son is 36 years old, and he has his family, he has his wife, he has four kids. And now he’s got only four kids to suffer without a father. And this is just not fair, this is unfair,” the grieving mother said.
The excavator operator has since been taken into police custody as investigations continue.
Construction work at the site has been temporarily halted.
