Gold miner collapses, dies

Police are investigating the death of 37-year-old Royan Casey, a gold miner, which occurred on Wednesday at Ekereku River, one of the tributaries of the Cuyuni River in Region 7.

Police Headquarters revealed that Casey was employed with Simeon Seaforth as a Pitman at Oban Backdam and would experience bouts of seizures regularly since he had epilepsy.

At about 05:00 hrs, Casey went to the General Manager’s (Dexter John) camp and asked for a flight to take him to Georgetown since he was feeling unwell.

It is alleged that about an hour later, John left with Casey via boat towards the Correia airstrip and 15 minutes away from the airstrip, Casey began gasping for breath and told John that he was unable to breathe.

“He suddenly leaned forward and became motionless. He was observed to be drooling from his mouth,” the Police release noted.

The body was taken to the airstrip, and a report was made to the Ekereku Police Station at about 08:30 hrs, after which Police examined the body at the airstrip for marks of violence, but none was seen on his body.

Casey’s body was then taken to Georgetown via aircraft and then to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, awaiting a Post Mortem Examination.