Victim of ‘freak accident’ at the Port succumbs to his injuries in Dominican Republic burn unit

One of the two men involved in what was described as a freak
accident at the Antigua Port Authority died on Saturday night,
exactly one week after the tragic incident.
 
Twenty-five-year-old Leandro Payano, a resident of Martin’s Village,
succumbed to his injuries just after 7 p.m. on October 21, in his
native Dominican Republic.
 
Reports say his co-worker, Javier Edgar Alcantara, 32, of Tindale
Road, who was injured with him, is still fighting for his life.
Both men sustained an array of injuries, including third- and fourth-
degree burns when a multi-storey scaffold they reportedly were
moving came into contact with high-tension utility wires.

While it was reported that the men had been wheeling the structure
and had lost control of it, at which time it slammed into the electric
wires, other persons claimed the scaffold did not have wheels; and,
so, they disputed the story.

At the time, the pair were said to be working for the Valdez Cleaning
Services, which was engaged in cleaning the south side of the Port’s
administrative building.

Following the accident, Payano had been placed on a ventilator in
the Intensive Care Unit at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre.

Reports say he was later flown out of the country for treatment at a
burn centre in his homeland; but efforts to save his life proved futile.

Further reports say he was buried on Sunday, October 22, in Santo
Domingo.
 

Members of the Hispanic community are said to be in mourning
over Payano’s death and are expressing sympathy to his mother.