John Fernandes Limited yesterday announced that an inquiry is underway into an incident at the company’s Water Street wharf this week where a truck driver died.
Sheldon Wilson, 36 of Hand-en-Veldt, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, died on Tuesday after his truck almost ended up in the river.
In a statement, John Fernandes Limited said Wilson was employed by a private truck owner, who was contracted by a third party to transport grain which had arrived at the wharf.
Wilson’s truck was safely loaded and weighed and was waiting in line to exit the compound, but instead of following the other trucks north in a slow procession towards the exit gate, Wilson’s truck continued to roll slowly in a westerly direction towards the river.
The statement added that the slow deviation was noticed by John Fernandes’ personnel, who raised an alarm to warn Wilson that his truck was heading towards the river.
“The truck was saved from falling into the river by the guardrail on the wharf, at which time workers were able to access the cab and noticed that Wilson was unconscious which may explain his lack of response to their warnings. He was promptly taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead upon arrival,” the statement said.
“JFL has always been committed to the highest industry standards to ensure that safety measures are in place but could not have anticipated this unfortunate incident. We are conducting an inquiry and fully support all official investigations of this incident,” it added.
Wilson was in the transportation industry and due to his frequent pickups from JFL, he was well known to the members of the company, which offered its sympathies to his bereaved family.
When Stabroek News contacted police commander of Region Four (A) Simon McBean, he said that an autopsy confirmed Wilson’s cause of death as drowning.
Police have said that based on information received from the security at John Fernandes Ltd, Wilson had gone to the wharf to collect feed from a boat. After collecting the feed at about 12:30pm, Wilson started the truck and it moved toward the river.
Several persons were said to have jumped into the river to rescue Wilson. He was pulled out of the murky waters by a wharf labourer and taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
As seen by this newspaper, CCTV footage showed the truck moving at a slow pace toward the river.
While the video prompted persons on social media to question whether the incident was a result of Wilson suffering a heart attack or seizure, or his brakes having failed, an aunt of the deceased, Denise Ramsay, stated that the man had no underlying health conditions.
The woman told this newspaper that Wilson was given the truck to operate by a villager but she was told that the vehicle had mechanical issues.
The woman said Wilson had complained to several of his friends, informing them that the truck had problems. However, the woman said in spite of being warned not to operate the truck, Wilson decided to drive the truck since he was asked by the owner several times.
At the time of the interview, Ramsay said the owner off the truck was yet to make contact with Wilson’s family.
She said Wilson’s plans were to drive the truck only on the ill-fated day.
Wilson was described as a friendly person.
