The last sound I heard was him breathing softly. This is what Vimal Karan, 36, of Calia Back Rd in Navua, said while sharing an incident where a man operating an excavator was buried under a pile of rocks yesterday.
When The Fiji Times arrived at the scene yesterday afternoon, police and rescuers were yet to retrieve the man from underneath the debris.
Mr Karan said he heard a loud crashing sound and he ran out to where the excavator was working on a hillside behind his house.
“I saw all the stones on top of him,” he said.
Mr Karan said the operator was between 20 to 30 years old but he did not know him personally.
“The last sound I heard was him breathing softly,” he said.
“I was looking for support to help with the stones but couldn’t find any.”
Property owner Shiu Karan said he was lying on the couch when he heard a loud crashing sound.
He said the man was working on his own.
“It took an hour for authorities to arrive,” he said.
Mr Karan said the excavation had stopped due to the wet weather, and had started again yesterday when the weather cleared.
Police said investigations were continuing.
