By: LaWanda McAllister
Three accidents over the weekend have claimed the lives of five people.
Five families were forced to accept their losses and are yet to come to grips with the sudden death of their loved ones, who lost their lives on the roads of Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara (WBD); High Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown and Liliendaal Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The first catastrophe occurred on Saturday evening at about 22:30h in the vicinity of Liliendaal Railway Embankment, ECD.
That accident claimed the life of a hire car driver, Devaskar Jetoo, of Lot 79 New Road Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD), and 24-year-old Nazad Ali, who resided at Lot 148-150 Atlantic Gardens, ECD.
It involved hire car HC 6244, driven by Jetoo; motor car PMM 1176 owned and driven by Petal Northe, 45, of Lot 14 Arapaima Street, East La Penitence, Georgetown; and motor car PWW 3133, driven by Ali, and occupied by Evana Seejatan, 26, of Lot 148-150 Atlantic Gardens, ECD.
Based on reports, motor car PWW 3133 was proceeding west along the southern side of the Railway Embankment at Liliendaal at a fast rate of speed, when the driver was in the process of overtaking motor car PMM 1176 and in doing so, collided with the right-side front fender of the said motor car.
The driver of PWW 3133 then lost control and ended up in the path of hire car HC 6244 which was proceeding east along the said road where a second collision occurred. As a result of the collision, motor car PWW 3133 and the hire car were extensively damaged.
The driver of motor car PWW 3133 was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor.
The body was then taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Mortuary awaiting a post-mortem.
Meanwhile, Jetoo, who was taken by ambulance to the Georgetown Public Hospital, succumbed at about 04:00h on Sunday morning at GPHC.
The third driver and the other 26-year-old occupant who was in one of the vehicles are admitted at the GPHC with multiple injuries.
The mangled vehicles involved in the accident are presently lodged at Turkeyen Police Station to be examined by a licensing and certifying officer.
The second accident took the lives of two other young men after the car in which they were travelling ran off the Mahaicony Branch Road, ECD, and ended up in the trench.
Dead are 38-year-old Deocharran Dass of New Providence, Mahaicony, and 31-year-old Bhickram Singh of Mortice Branch Road, Mahaicony.
Another person, Vishan Motie, a 27-year-old labourer of Mahaicony Branch Road, was also injured in the accident, which occurred at around 22:30h on Saturday.
Police said the accident occurred some 11km in from the main road.
Investigations so far revealed that the three men were imbibing at a friend’s house and after some time, they left with Dass driving motor car PFF 3940 while Singh and Motie were in the vehicle.
It was reported that Dass was proceeding south along the eastern side of the Mahaicony Branch Road at a fast rate when he failed to negotiate a sharp left turn, and instead continued straight into the canal, which is situated on the southern side of the road.
The width of the canal is approximately 65 feet, and the depth is about 15ft – 20ft.
The vehicle flipped over and was submerged in the canal.
Motie, who was seated in the front passenger seat, managed to exit the vehicle.
Unfortunately, the driver and the other occupant were trapped. They were subsequently taken out in an unconscious state by public-spirited persons and rushed to the Mahaicony Public Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
In an interview with this publication on Sunday, Motie said that Dass had only purchased the vehicle on the morning of the accident, and it was his first time driving the vehicle when the tragedy occurred.
After picking up the car, the unlicensed new vehicle owner took Motie for a drive down the Mahaicony Branch Road, to show him the power of his said car.
However, at about 11:00h, Dass picked up both Motie and Singh to go for a “spin” at their friend’s house, where they consumed seven beers each.
“While going down the road me and dem boy. The guy was driving fast, he did drink…it happens so quickly after the car landed in the canal, I tried to come out but I had hard time and gave up. I decide to try one more time and I push my hand and feel the window and pull myself out. I tried to help them but you can’t see under there. So, I go to the neighbour and get some help and they try to get a tractor to pull out the car,” he explained.
According to the lone survivor, it took about one and a half hours to get the vehicle out of the water. By the time they did, the men were already dead.
The bodies are presently at the Mahaicony Public Hospital’s mortuary awaiting PME.
Meanwhile, Eon Howard, 48, of Lot 433 B Field, Samaroo Street, South Sophia, Greater Georgetown, was killed in an early morning crash on Sunday.
The accident occurred sometime around 00:35h on High Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, in the vicinity of Carnegie School of Home Economics.
Police said Howard was driving his motorcycle, CK 7303, at the time and was proceeding south on High Street at a fast rate of speed, when he lost control and ended up in a concrete drain located on the eastern side of the road.
As a result, he was pinned by the motorcycle. The motorcyclist was subsequently assisted out of the drain by public-spirited citizens and later examined and pronounced dead at the accident scene by a doctor from the Emergency Medical Service Unit.
Howard’s body was then taken to Memorial Funeral Home, awaiting a post-mortem examination with dissection. [Extracted from the Guyana Times]
