A 43-year-old Filipino machine operator told police he did not see anyone in the area where he positioned two 40-foot containers at Muneshwers Houston Road storage compound on Wednesday afternoon, hours before the body of 23-year-old Cuban labourer Alex Jesus Gonzales Beria was discovered beneath the containers the following morning.
According to a police statement yesterday, the incident occurred between 14:36 hrs and 16:00 hrs last Wednesday at Muneshwers Terminal, located at Lot W9 Houston Road, East Bank Demerara.
The matter was reported to Police at about 08:40 hrs on Thursday, and detectives visited the scene shortly thereafter. Preliminary investigations revealed that a Construction Company contracted by Muneshwers was carrying out landfilling works at the compound where Gonzales Beria, of Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara, was employed.
After the body was discovered, the containers were lifted and Gonzales Beria was found lying motionless in a pool of blood with multiple injuries about his body. A pair of long boots and a yellow safety helmet were found nearby, police reported.
Emergency Medical Technicians were summoned to the scene, and Gonzales Beria was subsequently pronounced dead by a doctor from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. Ranks from the Crime Scene Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters processed the scene.
Police further shared that the body was escorted to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination. Several staff members are being questioned.
Meanwhile, Simoney Lara, the wife of Beria, told Kiskadee Watch yesterday that she was informed by her husband’s colleague, Kelvin, that Beria had sat down to rest at about 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday and was not seen again afterward.
Lara said Kelvin told her he did not hear when the container was placed or fell.
“The company’s manager/boss didn’t tell me anything. I thought he was going to help me because my husband worked there for three years, but he didn’t tell me anything,” Lara expressed, referring to the information she had received from the company following her husband’s death.
When Kiskadee Watch arrived on the scene on Thursday, Muneshwers staff were tight-lipped when approached for information about the incident. The company’s chief security officer declined to provide details and did not even want to disclose the time at which Gonzales was found. Other workers at the facility also said they were not permitted to disclose information about the incident.
The company’s operations were reportedly shut down for the day following the discovery.
The Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning has remained silent on the circumstances surrounding Beria’s death to date. A request for comment from subject minister Keoma Griffith regarding whether the ministry has been informed of the incident and if any workplace safety investigation has been initiated went unanswered.
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