Neptrid Hercules, the BOSAI Minerals employee, whose body was retrieved days after he was trapped when the mining pit he was working on collapsed, died from suffocation, a Post Mortem Examination (PME) confirmed on Wednesday.
The autopsy was performed by Government Pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh at the Memorial Gardens mortuary after which Hercules’ body was handed over to his relatives for burial.
Fifty-nine-year-old Hercules, a resident of Wismar, Linden went missing in the wee hours of Saturday after a plot of land he was working on swallowed him and the bulldozer he was operating.
A search and rescue operation was immediately launched and after more than 24 hours, Hercules and the equipment remained missing.
The man’s decomposed body was found at the company’s Montgomery Mines in Linden, Region 10 on Tuesday following a massive search and rescue operation. Rescuers pulled his body from inside the bulldozer.
Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton later revealed that the company will now have to answer tough questions on its safety practices as the ministry continues an investigation into the matter.
“An investigation is going on simultaneously that we are doing…the company will be made to answer the tough questions on safety,” Hamilton said as he promised a preliminary report by the end of the week.
Currently, all mine operations at the company have been suspended.
Hercules worked with the company for over 40 years and was set to retire later this year.
