A man died yesterday afternoon after he was pinned by the tray of a sand truck at the corner of Church and Albert streets.
Leon Phillips, known as ‘Big Head’, 32, of 107 Regent Road, Bourda, was said to be assisting with private garbage collection in the area when the fatal incident occurred at around 1:50pm.
According to another worker, who was the only one present at the time, they had both finished loading their trucks and were about to take off when Phillips’ tray became stuck.
“I was driving behind him (Phillips) when he signal me not to move off yet,” the eyewitness said. The man explained that his co-worker then exited his vehicle and proceeded to look under the tray to fix the gear box. He stated that it was while Phillips was between the tray and chassis that the tray came down, pinning the man by his neck.
“The tray was only like quarter way up, so it happen fast. He didn’t have time to move away,” the man recalled. “I run over to the excavator but it de too late… is de excavator had to raise de tray,” he noted.
The dead man’s distraught girlfriend later arrived on the scene in complete disbelief and was heard saying “I thought was joke y’all were making,” as she wept inconsolably.
She told this newspaper that the man was employed with RRT Enterprise since he was a child. “He is like a stepson to them,” she related.
Phillips is father to one son.
