Essequibo labourer crushed to death by excavator at worksite

• mother suspects fowl play

A labourer working on a road project at Bhagwandas Street in Queenstown Village, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) was killed on Saturday after he was run over by an excavator.

The dead man has been identified as 36-year-old Mervin Lochan, a father of four of Sparta, Essequibo Coast. He was only recently promoted to the position of chairman at the worksite.

Preliminary reports revealed that the excavator was reversing when it allegedly struck Lochan who fell onto the roadway and subsequently run over. His body was later found buried under the sand.

During an interview with Inews, mother, Yolanda Lochan believes that her son’s death was not accidental.

She explained that he was previously hit by an excavator while working on the same site and cites jealousy over his promotion may have played a role in his death.

“I was at home, and I received a phone call. This morning, he leave to go to work, and like around quarter to eight, he leave home. He tell me he going… you know, with a good spirit. He say, ‘Mom, I leave in now.”

Expressing her frustration and grief, the mother questioned how such an incident could have occurred. “How come an excavator operator can’t see a worker if he was around or whatever?” she asked.

She described her son as a devoted family man.

“My son is 36 years old, and he has his family, he has his wife, he has four kids. And now he’s got only four kids to suffer without a father. And this is just not fair, this is unfair,” the grieving mother said.

The excavator operator has since been taken into police custody as construction at the site has been temporarily halted.