Worker buried alive at construction site

Dillon Sinanan died on the first day of his new job when he was buried alive at a construction site opposite his father’s home at Tarodale Gardens, Ste Madeleine. Sinanan, 20, of  Sion Drive, Tarodale, was found buried in a hole shortly after 1 pm yesterday. Police said he went to do a job with private contractor, Desmond Blackette, who was hired by his neighbour, Merle Williams, 59, to dig a rubble drain at the front of her home. Sinanan’s mother, Marcia Williams, said he remained trapped in the hole for a while before his colleagues realised he was missing. Williams said she was resting at home when she got a call that Sinanan had fallen into a hole.

“When I got there I saw my son buried under the mud...I asked them what happened but I got three different stories,” she said. She said one of Sinanan’s colleagues told her he was walking near the hole when he fell in and the dirt covered him. Another man told her Sinanan was picking up loose pieces of dirt from inside the hole when an avalanche of mud came down and covered him. A third person told Williams Sinanan was standing next to the hole when the backhoe accidentally covered him over. Wiping away tears, Williams said: “I want to know what happened to my child. I think something is wrong because nobody can give me a straight story. “I am not pointing fingers but so far what I have heard is not making any sense. The whole thing does not sound right.”

She said Sinanan was looking forward to the birth of his first child. A source at the scene said Sinanan’s co-workers left the site to take a smoke and that was when the incident occurred. “Nobody heard when he fell, or if he screamed...When they came back here they saw him in the hole,” the source added. Backhoe driver Leo Lazarus and contractor Blackette declined comment. “I have nothing to say to you,” Blackette said angrily when approached by reporters.  

Lazarus was heard telling police he last saw Sinanan standing nears the steps of the house. Police say they have launched an investigation into the incident. Sinanan’s body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre where an autopsy will be done on the body today. Supt Zamsheed Mohammed and Sgt Anderson Pariman of the Southern Homicide Bureau are heading investigations.