Thirty-one-year-old Corporal Seon Rose of Friendship, East Coast Demerara, who sustained third-degree burns about his body following an explosion aback the Guyana Defence Force’s Coast Guard location at Ruimveldt, Georgetown, has succumbed to his injuries.
Dead: Seon Rose
He reportedly died while receiving medical attention in the Burns Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital on Sunday morning.
Also injured in the explosion are Terrence Neils, Gordon Cornette, Isiah Gordon, Trevon Joseph, Andrew Garnette, Victor Low, Atto Cort and Delroy Baird.
Neil, Gordon and Garnette are said to be in a critical state while the others are listed as stable.
However, due to the explosion, the fireworks display that was scheduled for Saturday evening in observance of Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary was cancelled.
Following the news of the rank’s death, President David Granger expressed condolences to the wife and relatives of the now dead army Corporal.
“Corporal Rose along with several other ranks of the 21 Artillery Company were preparing for Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary fireworks display yesterday (Saturday), when there was spontaneous combustion at approximately 13:30h aback the Force’s Coast Guard location at Ruimveldt…President Granger wishes to thank the staff of the GPHC for their tireless efforts to save Corporal Rose’s life and for their continued treatment of the other injured ranks.”
Corporal Rose was enlisted in the GDF on September 7, 2008, and joined the 21 Artillery Company on November 14, 2008.
On the day in question, persons in close proximity reportedly heard the loud explosion but thought it was an electrical issue.
This sound was followed by screams from within the Coast Guard Base which prompted persons to rush out. It was then that they saw several injured ranks in the water and others were being placed into vehicles.
One woman related that she noticed a solider, whose entire arm and upper body appeared to be burnt being rushed into an ambulance.
Fisherfolk in the area told this publication that they were on the “landing” when they heard a loud noise and saw smoke emitting from a truck that was on the GDF’s barge.
“Then when I look I see that the man from the Army get pitched from the top there into the water and end up next to our boats. But then he get out the water and rush back to his Base. He jumped over things to get back in there to help his friends even though he was burn up too,” one fisherman said.
Board of Inquiry
At the hospital on Saturday afternoon, Chief of Staff, Brigadier Patrick West told the media that rehearsal for the scheduled fireworks display was conducted on Friday evening at about 22:00h without any hiccups.
“It [the rehearsal] was well done and we were satisfied at the end of the rehearsals last evening [Friday evening] that we could have done the display today [Saturday]. As they were preparing for the display today [Saturday], they encountered some challenges and there was some form of spontaneous, we believe to have caused the detonations to have occurred resulting in injuries. I have ordered a Board of Inquiry to be conducted to get to the bottom of it.”
