Worker gets bomb blast for birthday

SUSAN Pierre almost got her head blown off on her 39th birthday. But she came away alive and with a ringing in her right ear and excruciating pain — a reminder of how close she came to death. Pierre was the KFC employee who was standing close to a dumpster at the back of the Independence Square outlet of the popular fast food restaurant, on Saturday, when a bomb planted inside a garbage bag inside the dumpster, exploded. Pierre suffered damage to her right eardrum and is fearful she may lose hearing in that ear. She is however thanking the Almighty for sparing her life and added that it will be a birthday which she will never forget.

Pierre, who was grimacing in pain at her Clovis Trace, Maraval home yesterday, spoke to Newsday about what she had planned to be the best day of her life, turned out to be a day of fear and horror, she would never forget. In recalling the moments leading to the bomb blast, Pierre said she awoke early Saturday morning and left for work at the KFC outlet, where she has been working for the past ten years. She is in charge of marinating the chicken with the secret herbs and spices. According to Pierre, she was feeling happy because it was her 39th birthday and she received hugs and kisses from co-workers on arrival at her workplace. She said that as she picked up the garbage bag, she heard a loud explosion and looked on as shrapnel started flying in all directions. Pierre remembers running to the front of the restaurant holding her right ear.

She said customers began hustling out of the restaurant but her co-workers were not even aware that a bomb had exploded. According to Pierre, it was only after a manager and supervisor made a check at the back, they discovered that the dumpster had been blown to bits and a water tank damaged by flying shrapnel. Pierre said that police officers arrived quickly on the scene and they ordered the evacuation of employees. By that time, the pain in her right ear was so intense that she knew that she had to seek medical assistance.

Clutching her right ear, she gave brief information to Snr Supt Errol Denoon and Ag Inspector Helen Morris. She was then taken to hospital in a marked police vehicle where she was treated and given medication. Pierre then contacted her mother Janet Butte and told her, “Mammy ah nearly dead because a bomb went close to where I standing at work.” Yesterday, she sat in the living room of her humble home still clutching her right ear. She said that the pain has not subsided and she will be visiting a private doctor today to find out the extent of the damage to her eardrum. She is now on two weeks leave from work but is unsure if she will be prepared to return to her job at the end of her vacation.