Soldier injured in Republic Eve explosion dies

Guyana Defense Force Corporal Seon Rose died today at the Georgetown Public Hospital less than 24 hours after he and others were admitted to the facility for medical treatment following an explosion at the Coast Guard Base on Saturday afternoon.

Corporal Rose was listed as critical on Saturday after he received burns to 90% of his body when fireworks which he and other ranks were loading onto a pontoon exploded resulting in the tragedy.

The GDF along with Terrence Niels, Gordon Cornette, Isaiah Gordon, Trevon Joseph, Victor Lowe, Atto Cort, and Delroy Baird were all listed as being seriously injured when they were taken to the hospital on Saturday.

Head of the GDF Braider Patrick West on Saturday confirmed that there will be a board of Inquiry to determine the circumstances which lead to the explosion. The explosives were being prepared for a fireworks display late Saturday evening into early Sunday morning to usher in Guyana’s 50 Republic Anniversary Celebration.

BIG Smith News Watch was informed that the soldiers who were handling the explosives on Saturday are the very individuals who have been trained to carry out such activities and have been handling the same over the years.

One senior Guyana Defense Force Rank indicated that there was nothing new with the handling of the explosives this time around in terms of the personnel who were preparing them for the display neither was there any shift in the type of explosives which is usually ordered.

“We did not change the supplier, we have not changed the men, in- fact these men have been doing this over the years and even traveled overseas and for similar events. These explosives are sourced through Trinidad and the same supplier who has been supplying us over the years is the same one who supplied us this time around too” the officer related to BIG Smith News Watch.

On Saturday, as the soldiers were handling the explosives, one which was still inside the truck went off, resulting in a chain effect on the other explosives which were still on board the truck.

This forced several of the soldiers to jump into the Demerara River but at the same time, the burning truck stood between those who were handling the explosives and those who rushed to their rescue.

It was after some time had elapsed that those who were seeking to go to their colleagues’ rescue managed to get beyond the burning truck but by that time, the degrees of burns which some of the soldiers had received were extensive.

This publication was told that it was the soldiers who first responded to the explosion with fire extinguishers and other firefighting capabilities and managed to bring the situation under control Saturday while the fire service and Emergency Technologists subsequently responded.

President David Granger did visit the injured the ranks on Saturday and expressed regret at the unfortunate incident, the president was also the one who informed that the fireworks display which was billed for Saturday evening was canceled as a result of the incident.