BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AN industrial accident at about 2:30 this afternoon (Jan. 25) at the Silver Reef Development site in Frigate Bay resulted in the death of a native of the Dominican Republic.
Dead is 47-year-old Elias José Benjamin, who was a Site Supervisor with the construction company, Fort Tyson Ltd.
On arrival at the scene, SKNVibes observed the bloodied body of Benjamin lying atop the tray of a crane with his face covered with a towel in the rear of one of the buildings under construction.
At the scene, this media house also observed the presence of Commissioner Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn, Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Crime Ian Queeley and a number of investigating officers, as well as Dr. Mervyn Laws who had pronounced Benjamin dead.
However, while waiting on the arrival of Sergeant Stephen Hector, the Police Press and Public Relations Officer (PRO) for a brief on the incident, the Site Developer of Silver Reef, Sebastian Mottram, spoke to members of the press.
Mottram said he was not present when the accident occurred, but noted he was told that Benjamin was supervising the lift of some wooden staircases when one of them fell on him.
He explained that the staircases were being lifted from ground level to the upper part of the building under construction and Benjamin was holding a line to steady each one until it reached its destination.
The Site Developer also explained that while Benjamin was holding the line for the lift of the fourth staircase, a strong wind was blowing and the staircase fell on him.
He said too that Benjamin was employed with the construction company for some five years.
On his arrival, the Police PRO quickly spoke with the investigating officers and immediately provided additional details of the incident to members of the press.
“…At the time of the unfortunate incident, he (Benjamin) was assisting with the crane operations that were taking place. He was actually standing on the bed of the truck and the load would have actually slipped and he wasn’t able to move away in time from under the load…and basically it fell on him,” Hector said.
He explained that the Frigate Bay Police Station, under Sergeant Myers, was ultimately responsible for the investigation and that they were ably assisted by Inspector Charles Smithen and Sergeant Smith of the Criminal Investigation Department.
Asked what is the procedure in a case of this nature, Hector said, “In matters of this nature, the police will do all due diligence research in terms of being able to record statements from all parties which were involved…crane operators, site managers and also other witnesses who would have been employees working in the area.”
He explained that at the end of the investigation, the police would have to send the findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice in terms of how they should go forward.
“Basically, we would be guided by the Director of Public Prosecutions as to the intended course of action on the way forward in this matter,” the PRO added.
