Marabella handyman Brian Ifill went to do a day’s work to demolish an abandoned house in Gasparillo yesterday, but he never made it back home after the house caved in, killing him instantly.
Ifill’s employer, Michael Scott, said the death could have been avoided if Ifill had listened to his co-worker who warned him not to stay near the crumbling concrete wall.
Speaking at the scene yesterday, Scott said his wife, Janice, hired the two men to demolish an old concrete structure which stood next to their home at San Fabien Road, Gasparillo. The house had been abandoned for six years and Scott said it was an eyesore.
A neighbour, who identified himself as Raulito, said Ifill and another worker were busy sledge hammering down the concrete walls when tragedy struck.
“I was in the back eating a mango and watching him beating down the concrete walls with a sledge hammer. He swing it to the right where the platform was slanted and then he started hitting the big piece of concrete decking. The last thing I heard was Janice and the other worker telling him to come down from there because he was going to get hurt. They said he could tie a rope around the posts and pull down the wall from below but he was disobedient to them,” Raulito said.
When the concrete wall and decking caved on top of him, blood started to flow, Raulito added.
Scott immediately called in the police and ambulance but Ifill was already dead. His body was viewed by a District Medical Officer who ordered it removed to the Forensic Science Centre. Gasparillo police are continuing investigations.
