A Corentyne miner was on Saturday found dead in a mining camp at Armu Falls Top, Cuyuni, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), with multiple marks of violence about his body.
The dead man has been identified as Phillip Cort, 56, of Queen Street, Courtland, Corentyne, Berbice.
Based on reports, the now dead man had an argument with another man over some missing gold. The argument quickly turned into an altercation during which Cort was severely beaten and left to die. The man’s body was found by colleagues who went to the mining camp to gather tools to commence a day’s work.
The main suspect, a 35-year-old man from the bauxite mining town of Linden, was subsequently arrested. He is assisting with investigations. Desiree Cort, a sister of the dead man, told Guyana Times that she received the devastating news on Sunday evening.
“I have a cousin who has a dredge nearby and she was in Georgetown, but her husband called her on Sunday and told her that Phillip was beaten to death,” the sister stated. She noted that after receiving the message, her cousin contacted family members at Fyrish Village in Corentyne.
Without hesitation, the man’s nieces and nephews travelled up to Bartica where they made arrangements for the body to be transported to Georgetown. The grieving sister said that the body was now at the Memorial Garden’s Mortuary and a post-mortem examination was planned for today. She explained that her brother lived in the interior and she last saw him about three years ago. Still in shock that he was no more, she reminisced on the good times the siblings shared. “Only five of us (13 siblings) are alive,” the woman said.
Her brother, she noted, did not have any children, but he was a loving individual who took care of his siblings’ children.
He is expected to be buried over the weekend in Fyrish.
