TRIAL FARM, Orange Walk District, Thurs. Apr. 20, 2017–Two brothers of Trial Farm in Orange Walk, Jeovani Coyoc, 26, a taxi driver, and Isidoro Coyoc, 41, a farmer and tractor driver, were both laid to rest this Sunday in the wake of a tragedy which occurred at their family farm on Good Friday, when the men suffocated inside a 40-foot well.
The incident occurred at about 12:30 on Friday, April 14, in the Goat Hill area of Tower Hill, Orange Walk.
Police reported that at about 11:30 that morning, Jeovani lowered himself with a rope into the well, which contained about four feet of water, in order to clean the walls of the well. When Jeovani began to suffocate in the well, his brother, Isidoro, tried to get help and when he could not get an oxygen supply for him, he tried to rescue him alone. Sadly, both brothers fell unconscious inside the well, which had been out of use.
Officers of the Orange Walk Fire Service were alerted by police, and they removed the two men from the well and rushed them to the Northern Regional Hospital. However, the brothers were declared dead on arrival at about 1:20 Friday afternoon by Dr. Marco DeVille, the doctor who was on duty.
Police have not released any postmortem results but it is possible that the brothers may have inhaled noxious gases, which can be exuded by very deep wells.
In an incident which happened in India in May 2016, five men died after inhaling deadly gases when they tried to clean an unused well.
Persons attempting to clean deep wells are encouraged to follow safety procedures, as it can prove fatal.