Two construction workers died and another was taken to hospital when a concrete wall collapsed Monday afternoon at St. Vincent Distillers Ltd.’s factory in Mt Bentick, Georgetown.
Judy Prince, of New Adelphi, told iWitness News that one of the dead men is her boyfriend, Delarno “Scrapie” Spencer, 44.
Spencer, who is originally from Chateaubelair, was also living at New Adelphi.
Prince said she was informed of her boyfriend’s death when his boss called.
Her aunt answered the phone and received the message of the tragic incident, which ended a 12-year relationship.
The other deceased is Maxwell Seales, of Calliaqua, Sendi Haynes, project manager at Fraser Construction, the men’s employers, told iWitness News at the scene.
Haynes said he was not on site when the incident occurred around 1:45 p.m.
He told iWitness News that another worker, Cameron Moore, sustained injuries to the head and pelvis and was being attended to at the Georgetown Hospital.
Doctors were looking to stabilise Moore before transporting him to Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, the nation’s main healthcare facility, located in Kingstown.
Haynes said that Seales has been working with the company for over a year and Spencer has been working “on and off” for close to two years.
He described both deceased men as reliable workers.
Haynes was among people who consoled Prince at the scene.
The men were working on an extension of the building, a project the company was contracted to complete, Haynes said.
Meanwhile, an executive at St. Vincent Distillers Ltd, told iWitness News that he was not aware of the circumstances surrounding the incident.
He said that the company had retained a construction firm to work on the property and that he might be in a better position to comment tomorrow.
The men’s deaths bring to three the number of construction workers to die at the factory in less than a year.
On June 14, Lyder Corke, a 66-year-old contractor of Chili Village, Georgetown, died after falling through the roof of the factory, while changing galvanised sheets.
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 20:37 on Feb. 8, 2022, to more accurately reflect the scope of works that the construction company was contracted to provide.
Three workers in less thank a year. No, no, something needs to be done.
Sad beyond wirds
Words
Someone seriously need to look into this every year someone dies at this particular site..contractors stay away from this devil ‘s nest
It’s such a tragedy to hear of lives being lost again. I hope that there is a thorough and transparent investigation into what caused the untimely death of these individuals and the pain it has brought on their families. […] This cannot simply be put down to another unfortunate accident. The government needs to step in and demand a full oversight of safety for workers. […]
My condolences to the family and friends of these men
I wonder if a safety inspection was done on the site prior to the start of the project?
Were the deceased and the injured workers wearing all there safety equipments, safety shoes, hard hats, gloves, restraint belts, goggles?etc
It’s about time they get serious on construction sites in St.vincent. Some of these mishaps are avoidable especially leading to death if proper procedures are taken into practice.
Poor planning Poor management Poor supervision.. Accidents near misses happen but if we had better health and safety we would not be recording three untimely deaths at one place within a year??? How many more have to die or seriously injured before certain plans are put in place to mitigate these tragic deaths??? RIP those who have passed, Imagine you leave home this morning and your family or loved ones never see again….. Please please please all workers exercise caution at work don’t take any unnecessary short cuts just to get the job done…
The last part of this article is very disrespectful to mention the deceased name. This is a still a fresh wound for the grieving wife and family.
Did someone say he was or will be transported to the Milton Cato General Hospital? That’s a lost cause!
Yes this need’s to look into .
Do Hope That they were not drinking at that time, That devil Tonic. best
OSHA standards need to be utilized
They should be a law in SVG that every construction site workers should wear hard hat.
All construction site they need to enforce PPE