RAMCO to pay funeral bill

THE FAMILY of RAMCO employee Selwyn Heeradan plunged into mourning yesterday when he lost a 24-hour battle with the third degree burns he suffered while on the job.

Heeradan, died around 8 am surrounded by relatives at his bedside at the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). The 24-year-old Barrackpore man whispered his last wishes to his grieving family, one of which was to be buried under Christian rites. Unfortunately, his ailing mother, Margaret, did not reach her son’s bedside in time to hear him tell her goodbye. She was still able to give her son a hug before they took his body away. Heeradan’s death was a double blow for his family in recent months. Margaret was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and told by doctors that she had two years to live.

Heeradan, a helper on the bulk transport unit, was working in the off-loading bay of the plant at San Fernando, when he was caught up in an explosion in a gas line. He was burned on 70 percent of his body when his clothes caught fire while he tried to shut off a valve leading to a gas tanker filled with some 6,000 pounds of liquid petroleum gas. A sister of the deceased said Heeradan was informed by doctors on Friday that he was not going to survive. He asked his siblings to take care of their terminally ill mother. RAMCO’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Imitiaz Rahaman said the company would be financing all expenses for Heeradan’s funeral.