BELCOGEN Mechanic Crushed to Death at Tower Hill
Forty-one-year-old Ismael Jimenez Junior, a mechanic employed at BELCOGEN, lost his life this afternoon after being pinned between two vehicles at the energy plant on Tower Hill. It is unclear what exactly transpired that resulted in Jimenez being fatally crushed. Co-workers at the facility were later able to free Jimenez before rushing him to the Northern Regional Hospital. He was later transferred to Belize City for emergency medical attention but he succumbed to internal injuries shortly before five o’clock this evening. It’s a tragedy that has employees at ASR/B.S.I. mourning the loss of a dear friend and Jimenez’s family grieving the loss of a loved one. News Five spoke by phone with William Neal, Communications Director at ASR/B.S.I.
On the Phone: William Neal, Communications Director, ASR/B.S.I.
“Today, a little bit before two o’clock, there was an unfortunate incident that involved a mechanic from BELCOGEN, Ismael Jimenez Jr., who was pinned between two vehicles. We were able to get him free and follow our protocols and transport him to the hospital to make sure and guarantee that he had the medical attention that he needed. It was decided once he was at the hospital that he had to undergo emergency surgery because he had internal injuries and he was bleeding internally. He underwent the surgery and the decision was made along with the family, because we had B.S.I. representatives there with the family, to take him to Belize City because he was not looking good and unfortunately at about a quarter to five [this evening] he passed.”
“Can you explain to us what happened, I know this incident may have taken place at Tower Hill on the grounds there. What exactly transpired that had him pinned between the two vehicles?”
On the Phone: William Neal
“We’re not sure. We will have an internal investigation and we’ll actually have some of our safety and health staff investigate it fully and then we will be able to say exactly what happened, but at this point we’re not sure. One thing we are sure of is that Mr. Jimenez died, you know, and that’s really tragic for us and for the family and that’s what we are really concerned about at this point. We want to get answers obviously, and we want to make sure that this never happens again… We have to make sure that we are there with the family and whatever is needed is afforded to them at this time. It’s really tragic, it’s a loss of an employee and a family member of the B.S.I. Group and that’s really important to us and we want to make sure that first we look after the family and then we make sure that we conduct a full investigation and that we see to it that we never have this kind of incident again.”