(Trinidad Guardian) A grandfather and grandson were killed yesterday when a tree they were cutting fell on top of them.
The victims were identified as 68-year-old Peter Redhead and 27-year-old Nikolai Phillip.
The tragedy occurred around noon yesterday in Grand Lagoon, Mayaro, about two miles inside Red Hill Road.
Police reports say the men, who were farmers, were cutting down a tree when part of it fell on them.
The men were pinned down and the chainsaw they were using kept running, slicing Peter across the body, while Nikolai’s legs and arms were crushed by the tree.
“Both of them were pinned under the tree,” said farmer Patrick Antoine, who went to the scene to help after hearing about the tragedy.
“It was gruesome to see what happened. They mash up you could say. It was bad.”
The men planted mainly plantain and cassava in their garden.
Witnesses said they were preparing the land to plant plantain. The particular tree they were cutting down, they said, had been in their way for quite some time and they moved to remove it so they could get more room to plant their crops.
ASP Jankie and Sargeant Naim Mohammed led the T&T Police Service team, while the T&T Fire Service, family members, villagers and the Hunters Search and Rescue Team also responded to the scene to offer assistance.
This was the second incident in which family members lost their lives tragically.
On Sunday, mother Kemba Morris, 42, and her eight-year-old daughter Zaya died after a fire razed their Quinam Road, Siparia home. After the fire was put out, the two were found mere metres away from a door in the kitchen. An autopsy revealed the two died from smoke inhalation.
The incident, however, has sparked a raging debate about the state of the T&T Fire Service after firefighters from the Siparia Fire Station, which is minutes away from Morris’ home, could not respond because the fire tender there was down. Instead, a tender from the Penal Fire Station responded, robbing firefighters of what may have been crucial time in their life-saving effort.
