Cause of ‘catastrophic’ explosion at rice mill known - owner
The investigation by the Ministry of Labour into the catastrophic boiler explosion at Hakh Rice Mill, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, in Region Five, on the afternoon of March 14 is ongoing but the owner says an internal probe has found the cause.
A consultant to the Ministry with responsibility for the Occupational Safety and Health department who wished for her name not be mentioned told the Sunday Stabroek yesterday when asked for an update into the explosion that the Ministry is still working to find the cause of the explosion. “We have a Steam Boiler expert who is assisting with the investigations. It is not finished as yet,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fiaz Abdool Hakh, the 47-year-old businessman of Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara who owns the mill told the Sunday Stabroek that the company has completed their internal investigation and is now waiting on the government to complete their probe so the cause of the explosion can be revealed.
“We know what caused the explosion but we are waiting on the government to complete their investigation first…”
He said that all three of his employees have been discharged from the hospital and have been compensated for the incident. No details were provided on the compensation.
When this newspaper contacted Sukra Harrygobin, 25, of Bath Settlement, whose foot had to be amputated as a result of the explosion, he said that he is doing better and is positive that he will be compensated since he is unable to work at the moment because of his condition.
Meanwhile, Anthony Ramlochan called ‘Bobby’, a 20year-old operator of Bush Lot Village who was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Burn Care Unit because of the seriousness of his burns, was discharged from the hospital on April 4 and is currently at home recovering. This is according to his mother, Liloutie Ramlochan who said, “He’s doing good and is required to do monthly checkups at the doctor.”
The Ministry of Labour on March 19 advised of a probe into the “catastrophic” boiler explosion that injured the three men on March 14.
Also injured was Farad Uddin, 19, an operator of
Blairmont, West Bank Berbice.
According to the police, the incident occurred at around 3.30 pm on March 14 and seriously injured Harrygobin.
Harrygobin 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. There, it was discovered that Harrygobin’s left foot was partially severed.
Ramlochan suffered burns to more than 52% of his body while Uddin suffered lacerations to his right leg.