A 55-year-old man was electrocuted last week Wednesday and while the occupants of the Betervewagting (BV) address where his body was discovered said that he fell down in their yard and died, a post-mortem examination performed on his body last Friday revealed that he was electrocuted.
Clement Cruickshank of Dazzell Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara, died sometime on Wednesday afternoon and his body was discovered under the stairs of a Quamina Road, BV residence lying in the mud.
According to the man’s brother, Donald Cruickshank, who resides in BV, he had seen his brother earlier in the day but he left shortly after and indicated that he was going to do a job. The dead man was a freelance electrician and would do work for persons in the area from time to time.
He said that it was sometime after 5 pm he received a call from a passerby who told him that his brother was lying on the road motionless.
However, the man said when he arrived at the location his brother was in fact underneath the stairs of a house covered in mud and a large crowd had gathered. He said the police were called and he identified his brother’s body which was then taken away by a hearse.
The brother said that it was after the body was removed that one of the occupants of the home, who is known to the family, as they are all from the same village, called him and informed him that his brother’s bag with his electrical tools was in their house and his shoes were at the top of their stairs. He said the man did not explain how his brother’s bag got into their home or why he had taken off his shoes but instead insisted that his brother was not doing any electrical work for them. The man reportedly told Clement’s brother that he had just walked into the yard and collapsed.
However, when a post mortem was performed on the body on Friday it revealed that the man was electrocuted and the police have since launched an investigation and personnel from the Guyana Power and Light have also visited the address.
“This is just too painful, speaking to you is like reopening a wound,” Donald Cruickshank told Stabroek News yesterday.
He pointed out that not one of the occupants of the home where his brother died has said anything to the family or offered any condolences.
“I really feel terrible, I feel very terrible because I had only spoken to my brother a few hours before and then he died,” the man said.
He said while the occupants of the home are claiming no electrical work was being done by his brother the post mortem has proven otherwise and persons in the vicinity have reported seeing the man doing work at the location.
Meanwhile, the man’s reputed wife of 18 years, Yvette Seales told Stabroek News yesterday that she last saw her husband on Wednesday morning when they both left for work. She said her husband did work throughout the East Coast and would leave early every morning with her to ply his trade. It was later that afternoon while at home she received a call informing her that he had fallen down “and deh on dying.” By the time she travelled to the location her husband’s body had been removed.
The woman said she is unclear as to how he met his death but was informed that he had purchased some bulbs and had gone to do some electrical work.
Investigations continue.
