Police are investigating a fatal workplace incident that claimed the life of 28-year-old Dairobis Martinez Mendoza, a Cuban national and construction worker of 15th Street, Foulis, East Coast Demerara. The accident occurred around 11:30 hrs on Monday at a private construction site along the Bachelor’s Adventure Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara.
According to investigators, the property is under a 40-year lease agreement signed on October 7, 2024, between owner Carlos Paul and Chinese businessman Xie Guohui. Guohui, 49, said he began construction of a supermarket and residential quarters about two months ago and had personally supervised the works until Monday, when he was unwell and absent from the site. He reported hiring six Spanish-speaking labourers but admitted he did not record their names.
Around 11:50 hrs, Guohui received a call informing him that the eastern fence wall—approximately 15 feet high and 120 feet long—had collapsed. Eyewitnesses said several workers were on site when the wall gave way, trapping Mendoza beneath the rubble.
Police and Guyana Fire Service ranks responded promptly, breaking through the concrete to retrieve Mendoza’s body. A thorough search confirmed no other workers were trapped.
Labour Minister Keoma Griffith, accompanied by Assistant Chief Occupational Health and Safety Officer Roydon Croal and a Ministry of Labour team, later inspected the site.
Mendoza’s body was removed by Memorial Gardens Funeral Home and awaits a post-mortem examination as investigations continue.
