A Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) technician was electrocuted at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara yesterday while he was working on a utility pole.
Dead is Vijai Gaznabbi, 26, of Lot 33 Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, who came into contact with live wire at approximately 1.50 pm.
A taxi driver, who was in the area at the time of the accident, told Stabroek News that he saw the GT&T technician fall off the post after he made contact with the wire. “Before he fall, I see a blue flash on the post,” said the driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The driver said after Gaznabbi fell from the post, he was still alive and bleeding.
However, he added that no one touched him until the police arrived and they transported
the injured man to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he succumbed. A resident said that she heard a big “boom” and, upon checking, she saw the deceased on the road near the pole, lying face down.
When contacted, Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) Public Relations Officer Shevonne Sears-Murray said the power company was aware of the incident and that an investigation is underway.
GT&T, in a press statement, said that Gaznabbi was performing his duties in the area when the incident occurred.
The statement added that the company is awaiting a formal report on the incident.
Additionally, the statement said, “We take the opportunity to express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr Gaznabbi.”
Gaznabbi was employed with GT&T since 2011 and held the post of Technician 11, attached to Outside Plant Maintenance, Beterver-wagting, East Coast Demerara.
Relatives described the man as loving and humble. Gaznabbi’s overwhelmed uncle, Errol Phillips, said that his nephew only returned from a vacation two weeks ago. Fighting back tears, Phillips said that he will remember Gaznabbi’s kindness. “He always believed in the right thing,” he added, while his nephew’s distraught mother was being consoled by other relatives.
