A man is now dead while others are hospitalised after a motor lorry turned turtle along the Yarakaita Access Road, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini).
The fatal accident occurred at around 17:50hrs. The truck was being driven by a 27-year-old man and it had two occupants in the cab and three in the tray.
Those in the tray were 17-year-old Leroy Chu, Edwin King, 35, and Mark Wells, 26. Wells was killed in the crash.
Reports are that the lorry was proceeding west along the Yarakaita Access Road at a fast rate of speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle as it was descending a hill.
The driver told investigators that the steering arm has been defective for some time; it had on a substitute part which came loose, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
The lorry ended up colliding into a mud wall (baranka) on the northern side of the road, causing the vehicle to spin around and turn turtle.
As a result of the collision, the three occupants in the tray were flung into the air and they landed on the roadway, receiving injuries.
Wells received laceration to the right ankle and abrasions to his left shoulder, King received abrasions about his body and Chu received lacerations to his head, ankles and abrasion to the shoulder.
Wells and King were picked up in an unconscious condition while Chu was picked up in a conscious condition by the Mabaruma Regional Hospital Ambulance and taken to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital where Wells was pronounced dead.
King and Chu were admitted patients suffering from fractured right ribs and open fracture to the right ankle. King is listed as critical while Chu is listed as stable.
The other occupants who were in the tray are unharmed.
A notice of intended prosecution was served on the driver who is in police custody as investigations continue.
