Miner narrowly escapes as 17-foot mining pit wall collapses
Injured: Nolan Leung sitting at the side of the mining pit after it had collapsed
A miner attached to the operations of Airton De Oliveira in Matarkai, Region One (Barima-Waini), is currently recovering from minor injuries he sustained after a 17-foot pit wall collapsed at the mining site at Arakaka, Perseverance, Matarkai, on Saturday last.
According to information received, Nolan Leung was jetting inside the pit, using a six-inch water pump near the wall when it collapsed at about 07:30h. He was subsequently transported to the Port Kaituma District Hospital for treatment.
Occupational Safety and Health Officer (OSH) with Responsibility for Region One (Barima Waini), Chavez Daniels, is leading the investigation which has been undertaken by the Labour Ministry.
About a week ago, miner Leon Lyken was killed at Frenchman Backdam, a community in the Upper Demerara River, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), after the pit in which he was working collapsed. <<Guyana Times>> understands that at the time of that incident, the 27-year -old Lyken, of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, had been working with others in the pit when a section caved in.
He was trapped by the fallen debris, while the others escaped. This publication has also been informed that another worker had sustained a broken foot and other injuries.
More than a month before the Lyken incident, Stephen Mark Samuels, a 47-year-old miner of Karwap Mission in the Pomeroon River, Region Two, died when the pit he was operating in collapsed. That incident occurred at Puruni Backdam in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Samuels had been employed by a Brazilian national, and had been working in a pit when part of the eastern wall collapsed and buried him. His coworkers had raised an alarm and had managed to retrieve his motionless body from the rubble.
The police, finding no marks of violence on the body, had transported it to the Puruni Health Centre, where he was pronounced dead. (G9)
