Jamaican team conducted autopsy into Lindo Creek Massacre

Georgetown: Guyanese Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh was bypassed by the government of the day, in 2008, for the post-mortem examination on the remains of the eight miners killed at Lindo Creek.

Dr. Singh, one of two forensic pathologists in Guyana, and who has performed over 25,000 post-mortem examinations, told the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Lindo Creek Massacre Thursday, that he was overlooked by the PPP Government when it was time for an autopsy to be done on the remains.

The autopsy was reportedly conducted by a Jamaican team headed by a regular doctor.

Dr. Singh appeared before the COI today, informing that he was neither officially contacted by the government, nor did he participate in any autopsy on the burnt remains of the eight miners.

“On Monday (June 22, 2008), I was looking at the news and heard that they had brought all the bones out. Then on Thursday of the same week, I got a call from the then-Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, and he said to me that the government is going to fly in a team from Jamaica with a pathologist.”

Dr. Singh, who is currently the Head of the Department of Pathology, GPHC, told the former police commissioner that he would not be part of that autopsy.

The previous day, Dr. Singh was flown into the interior on the premise that he would be performing the examination on site. However, because of the terrain, he told the COI, that he was unable to reach the location. He then returned to Georgetown with the team.

Asked his opinion on what he would have done were he given a chance to perform the autopsy, Dr. Singh said the situation would have been considered “disaster management”.

“The problem is you have to get them separated as much as possible. You just can’t go and scoop them up and put them in a bag… you must see an outline unless they were totally burnt. So, you put them separately, so it is easier to examine. And that would have been the best way to go.”

Added to that, Dr. Singh said he would have requested the presence of a forensic anthropologist since he does not have that qualification. He told the COI, that this information was never adhered to despite communicating to then-Commissioner 0f Police, Henry Greene.

The COI into the Lindo Creek Massacre continues on Tuesday, March 27.