The pregnant woman along with four other occupants of motor-car, PGG 7348, were all killed instantly when the driver of the vehicle apparently lost control and crashed into a concrete fence and the guard hut of an apartment complex, resulting in the death of the security guard stationed there.

Linden bus crash -- Ten confirmed dead

Also killed in the accident are 12-year-old Alicia Samaroo, known as ‘Stacy’, of Lot 550 Block 8, Mon Repos, a former student of Annandale Secondary school; and her 11-year-old cousin, Shreeza Pooran, of Lot 444 Block 8, Mon Repos, and former student of Mon Repos Primary school – both of whom were in the rear seat of the car.

Security guard, Mr. Nandram ‘Errol’ Ramgopaul, 57, of Lot 13 Victoria Road, Plaisance, who was employed for the past seven years as a guard at Shivraj’s Oceanic Villas located at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, died a few hours later at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

As a result of the impact, Singh along with his wife Fameeda, who was in an advanced state of pregnancy; his sister Renika, and two other female relatives – schoolgirls Alicia and Shreeza - “suffered injuries to which they succumbed”.

Police also confirmed that Ramgopaul, who was on-duty as a security guard at the Oceanic Villas at the time of the accident, received injuries when the car slammed into the guard hut he was stationed in around 11:50 h.

Ramgopaul was rushed to the GPHC where he later died while receiving medical treatment.

In the wake of yesterday’s tragic accident, which occurred less than two weeks since the shocking Linden carnage when 10 persons were killed after a mini-bus slammed into a parked truck laden with logs, the Guyana Police Force has once again renewed its appeal to drivers of motor vehicles to refrain from speeding on the roadways.

The Police Force is also urging occupants/passengers of motor vehicles to call on drivers to desist from speeding when they are observed to be doing so.

Mother of the pregnant woman, 51-year-old Mrs. Bibi Bacchus, wept inconsolably at the Lyken’s Funeral Parlor yesterday afternoon where the bodies were taken after the accident.

She was allowed to identify her daughter’s body and upon coming out of the parlor, continuously begged God to take her life. “How am I gonna live without my daughter…my only daughter?” she lamented.

According to family members on the scene, Bacchus was eight months pregnant and was a former teacher of Apex Education – a private school on the East Coast Demerara.

Her reputed husband, relatives said, was a mechanic by profession and was at the time of the accident - the driver of the ill-fated car.

This newspaper learnt that the family was on a journey to Parika, East Bank Essequibo when tragedy struck minutes after leaving their Mon Repos home on the East Coast.

According to an eyewitness, the driver was “speeding” when the car apparently developed a mechanical problem and as a result he lost control of the vehicle.

One irate eyewitness declared: “Majority of the accidents are due to speeding, I am positive when he got that blow out, he could have controlled that car and avoid the death of himself and family, but it is the speed he was going at that resulted in this. This should now open the eyes of all those who like to speed, especially those bus drivers.”

Reports indicated that when the vehicle made contact with the concrete fence, the impact sent it some 10 to 15 feet in the air, in the process ‘taking-down the sign board’ of the apartment complex and pitching three of the passengers out of the vehicle.

All five passengers including the pregnant wife of the driver, died instantly after the car collided into the fence.

When this newspaper arrived on the scene, the mangled remains of the Toyota car suggested that it was virtually impossible for anyone to have survived a crash of that nature.

The vehicle parts, including the engine, were seen scattered along different sections of the roadway. The engine and gear box were dislodged completely from the car upon the impact.

Acting Police Commissioner Mr. Henry Greene, who was at the scene of the accident noted that another disturbing road accident has struck due to a lack of caution and common sense.

Security of life begins with you, especially when there are other people’s lives involved. Common sense and cautiousness should always be exercised when driving, this we have been talking about all the time and people still continue to speed,” Greene chided.

&This should be sent out as a message about speeding, we still have to keep working on this,” he emphasised.

Greene declared that the total number of road accidents for the month is indeed sad and unfortunate, but that it is a reality.

Meanwhile, the large crowd that gathered on the scene of the accident expressed their concern about the previous accident in Linden which resulted in ten innocent persons meeting their unfortunate death, and adding to that another six yesterday. They all agreed that if something is not done about speeding and cautiousness on the roadways, then road accidents will be the number one cause of death in Guyana.

?This is indeed sad, we recently experienced a horrific accident in Linden and now another one on the East Coast, it seems as if death is travelling on all the roadways of the country. It is now us that have to be extremely cautious when driving because everything now is a road accident. The police should really intensify their campaign on speeding,” noted a concerned citizen.

Just over a week ago, ten persons were killed in an appalling smash up in Linden. Residents there had indicated that the minibus was speeding when it slammed into the parked truck, ending in perhaps the most tragic accident ever in Linden.

The bus was ferrying passengers on the internal route between Mackenzie and Amelia’s Ward when tragedy struck.

Witnesses said the bus was going up the Amelia’s Ward Hill and when it was close to the top, the driver apparently attempted to overtake two other vehicles but was caught in the glare of the headlamps from a vehicle coming in the opposite direction and swerved to avoid a collision.

He quickly pulled back into his lane and the bus slammed into the back of the parked truck laden with logs, killing at least four persons instantly.

Those that died in the Linden smash up are; Paul Lewis, Tyrese McClean, Carl McCalmont, Delroy Mitchell, Elaine Evelyn Lashley, Carl Austin, Colleen Bacchus, Karen Evelyn 'Lyn' Adams, Lorraine McCurdy and Florence Cummings.