Canecutter succumbs to burns

CANECUTTER Randy Beharry, 18, died yesterday morning seven days after he body was badly burned after being  trapped in a burning canefield in Penal.

Beharry, of Julien Branch Trace, Barrackpore, succumbed to his injuries at around 9.50 am at the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital. He had suffered first degree burns to 75 percent of his body. According to his mother, Dharmatie, Beharry’s condition was slowly improving and doctors had given him a “good chance” of survival. The incident occurred last Wednesday.  Beharry was with ten other workers cutting and loading cane at Penal Rock Road when he became trapped in the burning field. 

According to an eyewitness, Rajkumar Singh, a strong breeze fanned the flames and Beharry was surrounded by fire. As Beharry ran out of the field, his jersey caught fire and by the time he got out of the blazing field, his entire body was on fire and his shirt had been burnt off his back. Workers frantically pulled off Beharry’s pants and rolled him along the ground to put out the flames. He was rushed to hospital where doctors immediately began treating his injuries.

According to Dharmatie, it was only at the start of this crop season that Beharry began working regularly as a cane cutter. He previously did jobs in the village or assisted in rearing the family’s animals and crops. Ag Cpl Jankienanan of the Barrackpore Police Station is continuing investigations.