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Ekereku mishap…Teen ran into plane’s propeller while going to collect package – Eyewitness

Jun 14, 2013 News

 

By Javone Vickerie
The death of 17-year-old Berbice resident, Raquel Joseph, under horrific circumstances, at Ekereku Airstrip, Cuyuni, Mazaruni, on Wednesday, has stunned the mining district.
The young woman died after coming into contact with the propeller of a Cessna 172.
A source from the area told this publication that Joseph had landed in the area about 15:30 hours (3:30 pm) Wednesday on an earlier aircraft to the one by which she met her demise. The source added after departing the plane the teen went into the police station and provided her name, address and her age (which she gave as 22). Her relatives later confirmed that she was 17.
The source said that after she came off the aircraft, Joseph was seen walking around the area a few times “as if she was looking for something”, but then requested officials at the immigration office to check for a bag which she had left on the previous plane. This publication understands that a request was made via radio for the package to be delivered on the next incoming flight.
It was then further related by the source that when that aircraft, a Cessna bearing the registration number 8R-JIL, landed for the final flight of the day at about 17:30 hours (5:30 pm) from Olive Creek, the teenager ran towards the aircraft (with propeller still spinning) to collect the bag which she had left on the other plane, but became entangled with the propeller.
The blade sliced away a portion of the young woman’s scalp, face, left shoulder, left breast and hand, before she was thrown approximately three metres away from the aircraft.
The body which was clad in pink jersey, blue short pants (denim) and with socks and sneakers was then covered with a sheet before it was taken away by authorities.
A small haversack was also on the ground with items of clothing strewn around the immediate area.
Kaieteur News was made to understand by a reliable source that the aircraft involved in the accident was owned by a newly functioning air service which was privately-run by a gold miner of the district.
Deputy Director of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Paula Mc Adam told this newspaper that a number of inspectors and investigators were deployed to the area yesterday to conduct a full scale investigation.
She confirmed that the body of the young woman was flown to Georgetown and is currently at Lyken’s Funeral Parlour. The pilot provided a statement to the police before he was made available to the GCAA for questioning.
A post mortem report is expected today.
Meanwhile, Kaieteur News visited a close relative of the dead teen, her aunt Roxanne, who said that she last spoke to her niece on June 1st after she was home for her 17th birthday.
The woman explained that on Wednesday she received a call from a man who related to her that Joseph was involved in an accident with an aircraft, where she “got caught up with the propeller”. The still grieving aunt said that her worst fears were confirmed when she received another call which gave a full and gruesome description of the scene and the state of her niece’s body.
The aunt made mention that Joseph went into the interior with “a big woman” to work, but this was not the first time she had taken the trip to the destination.
When asked what sort of work she did in the mining district, the aunt said “All we know is that she use to go there and work, we don’t have any idea of what work she use to do. Raquel was not somebody who use to tell people her business”.
The aunt explained that Joseph was the fourth of 10 siblings who resided with their grandmother in Georgetown, before she moved to Timehri to live with her. The woman said that after awhile the teen moved in with her father who resides in Berbice and would visit Timehri “now and then”.

 

 

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