Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
Sixty-two-year-old Rio Claro farmer Razif Khan had planned to use his share of the profits from selling logs to renovate his home for his children.
Instead, he died a short distance away from the Cunapo Southern Main Road, Cushe Village home he was hoping to repair when he was hit on the head by a falling log on Thursday.
Yesterday, Razif’s twin brother Shaniff Khan said that just before 2 pm Thursday, the 62-year-old and their older brother Rasheed were looking on as the tractor was removing the logs.
“The tractor was pushing the logs. When the tractor man reversed he bounced one of the logs (an appamat log) that was on top of the heap. It swung, hit him behind his head and he fell,” he explained. Khan was at home when he heard his older brother scream as he witnessed the accident. He recalled that they lifted Razif, placed him into a van and took him to the Rio Claro Health Centre where he succumbed to his injuries.
Khan estimated the logs to be 50 to 60 feet in length, each weighing roughly 1000 pounds.
He said his brother Razif retired as a wardsman about three years ago after working 37 years with the Eastern Regional Health Authority.
“My brother was a really good person. In the (Rio Claro) health centre, people were crying and bawling.” He was also well known through his Facebook page where he posted photos and videos about food and farming.
Being twin brothers, Khan said they shared a close bond and after the incident, he experienced back pain.
“I did not tell anyone. It used to be that if I get sick today, he would get sick tomorrow. And so we go. We were very close,” he said.
Khan also said that the land, roughly 13 acres, is shared among four siblings.
“We got the deed and we were trying to cut out the logs to sell them. Every day for the past two weeks we have been logging,” he said.
He said a truck was supposed to collect the logs, but it did not show up, so they were clearing an area to bring out more logs when the accident occurred.
While he and his brothers did not have a lot of experience in logging, he said they have been doing “bush work” for a long time and are aware of the dangers.
“All work is dangerous, but when we are in the bush everybody has to be careful. All kinds of incidents take place,” he lamented.
Khan said Razif had a lot of plans since his retirement and he talked about extending his home and planting the land with various fruits and vegetables.
The 62-year-old had two adult daughters.
Razif’s death is the second fatal accident to occur in a forested area in the district in the last three weeks.
On February 24, Samaroo Ragoonanan, 55, was killed after a branch fell on top of him off Lasalle Road in Biche. He was with other residents at a camp, but he left them to look for branches to make fishing rods. His body was later found 200 feet away from the camp.