A Brazilian miner died on Tuesday after a 200-pound-plus rock crushed him to death while he was working at Puruni Mines in Region Seven.
The dead man has been identified as Jose Cicero Ferreira Pereira also known as ‘Garapal’, 55, a maintenance worker employed with Hard Rock Mining Company, Puruni Mines.
An autopsy gave his cause of death as crush injuries to the head.
According to the police, Pereira was at the time working at the top of the shaft section of an approximately 80- foot underground tunnel along with a colleague.
They were pumping water out of the tunnel when the pump choked and as a result, Pereira was lowered into the tunnel by a winch where he proceeded to clear the blocked pump.
Investigations revealed that after Pereira’s colleague realised that fifteen minutes had elapsed and he had not heard from him nor did he signal to be winched up, he called out to him.
When his calls went unanswered, the co-worker raised an alarm and notified Site Manager, Paulo Mattis De Souza. De Souza was lowered into the tunnel and found Pereira lying face down in an unconscious state with a large rock on his head.
Pereira was extracted from the tunnel and subsequently succumbed, police said.
He was transported to the Bartica Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
