A 43-year-old worker lost his life after falling from a ledge at the Capitán San Luis Stadium in Pinar del Río while performing painting work at the sports facility.
The news was spread this Sunday by the citizen complaint site NiO Reportando un Crimen and confirmed by friends and acquaintances of the deceased in social media posts.
The man was identified as Ernesto Roquez Valdez, affectionately known as "El Neo," originally from the municipality of Mantua, in the province of Pinar del Río, although he was residing in the provincial capital at the time of the accident.
According to testimonies received by NiO Reporting a Crime, the fall occurred when part of the awning that Ernesto was working on gave way. He was a painter with years of experience.
His body was transferred to the municipality of Sandino, where his parents and other relatives live.
One of the most painful aspects of the tragedy is that Ernesto leaves behind young children who will grow up without their father's presence.
The death of Ernesto shocked those who knew him. Tomas Ramos, a childhood friend of the deceased, wrote on Facebook: "Wow, my brother, I can't believe it, I'm at a loss for words. Rest in peace my friend from childhood, soar high Neo, you were one of the good ones."
Beyond the pain, the report highlights a potential serious negligence. According to testimonies gathered by NiO Reportando un Crimen, the workers were performing their tasks without proper protective measures for work at heights: no safety harnesses, lifelines, or fall protection systems.
"Even if a worker loses their balance, slips, or makes any unintentional mistake, that does not mean they should lose their life. It is precisely to prevent tragedies like this that safety harnesses, lifelines, and other fall protection systems exist," the platform stated.
The complaint page also directly questioned those responsible: "Who authorized this work without ensuring safety measures?"
The accident occurs in a context of high workplace accident rates in Cuba, especially in maintenance and construction jobs. According to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), in 2025, 38 workers lost their lives in workplace accidents across the country, with the construction sector being the most lethal, accounting for 10 fatalities.
In June last year, two Cubans died in another workplace accident under similar circumstances, and in March a young man lost his life after a serious fall in Santiago de Cuba, which highlights a recurring pattern of preventable deaths due to a lack of safety measures.
So far, the Cuban authorities have not issued any official statement regarding the accident or any ongoing investigation.
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