The family of Anthony Ramlochan called ‘Bobby’, a 20-year-old of Bush Lot Village who was among the three employees injured last Thursday in the “catastrophic” boiler explosion at Hack Rice Mill in Region Five, is requesting financial help.
Anthony’s mother, Liloutie Ramlochan, told Stabroek News yesterday that her son was transferred from the New Amsterdam Hospital to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) because of a shortage of beds. She relayed that her son is currently in the intensive care unit (ICU) because of the seriousness of his burns and will stay there until he recovers. As such, she is requesting financial help from anyone towards her son’s daily expenses since she expected that the owner of the mill would help financially, but up to now, that assistance has not been forthcoming.
“I need money from anyone, the boss man didn’t say anything about financial help as yet but people said that he will give money. I’m waiting for some kind of help because every day we (family) have to buy things my son needs, especially soup and other eatables, and then the transportation cost is costly. My husband doesn’t know how to drive our vehicles, so my daughter and husband would have to pay the transportation cost to travel from Bush Lot to the GPH every day and back home to carry things for my son.”
She posited that her son at least needs compensation for the days he will not be working since he has to stay in the hospital until he recovers. Liloutie also disclosed that her son and husband were the only ones working in home and their contributions ran the household. The fact that her son is not working now is hard on the family of four, she added. He worked with the company for three and a half years, she noted.
Liloutie recalled that at the hospital, her son related to her that on the day of the incident, his co-worker switched shifts with him. He was working the night shift which starts around 3 pm and he arrived after 3 pm and was called to his employer’s office to collect his pay, which he took and gave to another co-worker for safe keeping. Anthony said that while he was heading to his work station to begin work, he heard a loud noise, and immediately after, realised that he had fallen down. Whilst on the ground, a heavy iron object fell on him, pinning him and preventing his escape. At this point he passed out and when he regained consciousness, he started to scream. This alerted his colleagues who came running and freed him from the heavy object that was on top of him. She said her son along with the two others who were injured were transported to the Fort Wellington Hospital.
The mother said that the Fort Wellington Hospital staff made the men wait for some three hours, until the owner of the mill called to inform them that he would take them to a private hospital, but that did not work out. She said eventually her son was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital and later transferred to the GPH because the hospital had a shortage of beds.
Liloutie disclosed that her son’s condition is regarded as serious by the doctor at the GPH as he sustained burns to his back all the way down to his buttocks, the sides of his legs, the sides of both of his arms, and his face. According to the doctor, he will remain in the ICU until he fully recovers. The woman also said that she was unaware that the Ministry of Labour is investigating the matter but she is waiting to hear from the owner regarding compensation for her son and thankful he is still alive.
The Ministry of Labour on Wednesday said that it is continuing its probe into the “catastrophic” boiler explosion that gravely injured three young men last Thursday afternoon at Hack Rice Mill, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, Region Five.
In a statement, the ministry said that Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Officer, Neza King, and Regional OSH Officer, Babita Singh, visited the site on Wednesday accompanied by Steam Boiler Examiner of Yhann Engineering, Mark Yhann, to interview the mill owner and examine the site of the explosion.
Statements were taken from the owner, and interviews will be conducted with the victims during this week.
According to the police, the incident occurred at around 3.30 pm last Thursday and seriously injured Sukra Harrygobin, 25, of Bath Settlement, whose ankle had to be amputated. Also injured was Farad Uddin, 19, an operator of Blairmont, West Bank Berbice.
The mill is operated by Fiaz Abdool Hack, 47, a businessman of Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara.
According to Harrygobin, he was operating a rice boiler in the company of Uddin and Ramlochan, when he heard a loud explosion. He said he started to feel pain about his left foot and about his body which caused him to raise an alarm, after which several workers ran to his rescue and took him to the Fort Wellington hospital along with Uddin and Ramlochan. It was then it was discovered that Harrygobin’s left foot was partially severed.
Ramlochan suffered burns to more than 52 per cent of his body, while Uddin suffered lacerations to his right leg.
Harrygobin and Uddin later opted to seek medical attention at the Dr Balwant Singh Hospital.
Ramlochand’s mother stated that because of the serious burns he sustained during the incident, she was advised to let him remain at the GPH Burns Unit.
