Excavator operator pinned to death at sand mining site

Excavator operator pinned to death at sand mining site

A 67-year-old excavator operator lost his life at a mining pit in the village of Dora along the Soesdyke-Linden highway when he got pinned by the bucket and track of an excavator.

The dead man has been identified as Lennox McPherson of Wismar, Linden.

He worked with the Guiana Shield Resources company, which is involved in sand mining.

A report of the incident stated that at around 11:30 on Monday morning at the mining pit, operator McPherson had just finished talking to another excavator operator when that operator thought he had left the scene.

The operator said he did not notice that McPherson was still in the area close to the bucket of the machinery, when he started to operate it again.

McPherson was pinned by the bucket and the track of the excavator, resulting in an alarm being raised.

He was crushed in the region of his groin and pelvis and also lost a finger as efforts were made to get him released from the spike tips of the excavator’s bucket.

The man was eventually released from between the two pieces of the large equipment as medical help was summoned, but he was pronounced dead.

The Ministry of Labour has since launched a full investigation into the incident along with the Police and the company itself.

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