Bus was speeding and rammed truck from the back

De Hoop smash-up…

By Clifford Stanley, Latoya Giles and Brushell Blackman

By KNews  

The death toll in Saturday’s smash-up at Mahaica on the East Coast of Demerara climbed to six yesterday, as Police Commissioner Henry Greene confirmed that the truck driver was drunk, and some survivors accused the mini-bus driver of excessive speeding.
But reports indicate that none of the passengers, including two teachers, admonished the driver for endangering their lives.

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Police Commissioner Henry Greene said in a statement yesterday that breathalyser tests revealed that truck driver was intoxicated.
Those confirmed dead are mini-bus driver Gary McAlmont, called ‘Percy’, of Number 28 Village, West Coast Berbice; Troy Douglas of Weldaad; Cynique Fraser, a schoolteacher and university student of Lovely Lass Village all on the West Coast of Berbice, Patrina Munroe; Mary Blair, 52, and Joshua Johnson of Berbice.
Johnson, who had massive head injuries, succumbed at the Georgetown Hospital late Saturday night.
Among the injured are one-year-old Jonathan Bourne of Lot 164 Alexander Street, Kitty, who is listed as critical with head injuries; his mother, Clavia Williams, who sustained injuries to her limbs; Doreen Dutchin 42, of Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, David Budhran, who sustained lacerations to his limbs and face; Dhandar Drepaul, 23, of D’Edward Village, West Coast Berbice: Vanetta Usher, 29, of Lichfield, West Coast Berbice;
Wayne Holder, 30, of Lot 22 West Coast Berbice, who received head injuries and lacerations to the face and hands, and Anille Arthur, 17, of Rose Hall, Corentyne.
Relatives of the six West Berbicians who perished were in deep mourning yesterday.
They could barely contain their grief while they spoke about their lost loved ones.
Sixty-six year-old Mary Blair, of Hopetown, Berbice, had travelled to Georgetown on Saturday to see her three-week old granddaughter, Sophie, for the first time, and as it turned out, the last time.
She was supposed to have visited her in Georgetown last week but had to put off the visit.
“Then Saturday morning some other business came up and she was supposed to have postponed her visit to next week but she refused to postpone it again. She said that she had to go and see her grand-daughter; that anything else would have to wait,” her daughter Patricia told Kaieteur News yesterday.
Joshua Johnson, 33, who died while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation late Saturday night, was the last of 14 children. The mason/ carpenter and his two children lived at his mother’s home.

Johnson, also known as ‘Soco’ and ‘Bebo,’ worked in Georgetown and was returning to his home at Number Four Village, West Coast Berbice after a week of work.
Mrs. Ernestine Johnson aged 73 said: “He was a dutiful son. He was always helping me to do something.  When he was away from home he would call me often to find out how I was doing. Saturday morning he called and told me that he would be coming home earlier than usual. He never did.”
Troyland Douglas, 29, was also a Mason/carpenter working in Georgetown.
A father of four, he also lived at the home of his mother at Weldaad and he travelled to and from Georgetown daily.
“He was a hardworking man and he followed the jobs wherever they were. Sometimes in Georgetown sometimes in Berbice,” his mother Shelley Hope said.
Cynique Fraser, a schoolteacher and University of Guyana Student, was the only child of her mother, Sharon Fraser.
Mrs. Fraser was so overcome with grief yesterday that she had to be given medication and was unable to speak to anyone.
Patrina Munroe, 26, also a school teacher, was pursuing a degree in Mathematics at the University of Guyana.
Relatives said that Patrina had attended a workshop for Mathematics Teachers at NCERD, Ministry of Education in Georgetown for the week and was returning home.

“She was a brilliant girl. Brilliant and loving,” her mother-in-law, Avril said at their home at Tempie Village yesterday, barely able to keep back tears.
Relatives of Gary McAlmont described him as a hardworking man who had been doing well in life after a humble beginning.
“He achieved much and should have been living to enjoy it. Why now? Why now” his wife Beverly cried.
McAlmont was the driver of the Route 50 Mini Bus which slammed into a truck on the De Hoop road Saturday night.
The survivors and their relatives also had their harrowing stories.
Relatives of Clavia Williams told Kaieteur News that Williams was seated behind the driver with her baby on her lap.
The relative further said that Williams fell asleep and later awoke in the hospital.
According to relatives, Williams also told them that the driver was speeding.
They also alleged that the injured woman’s belongings were stolen by persons who went to assist the injured.
“She had $14,000 cash and some jewellery, all are missing. The police told us that persons were on the scene before they arrived and it was those persons who took the items” the relative stated.
The wife of survivor Wayne Holder said that her husband was seated in the third row of the minibus.
She said that he had told her that the driver was speeding and he attempted to overtake the truck and ended up beneath the other vehicle.
But survivor, Marvin Ramphal, who suffered minor injuries, refuted claims that the driver was speeding.
According to Ramphal, the bus was travelling at no more than 70 miles per hour and playing music at a moderate level.
He said that just before the accident, he heard the driver exclaimed, “Oh sh–t!”
That was followed by a loud impact. According to Ramphal, the truck that they slammed into was parked with no lights on, since it had broken down and the area was dark as well. Ramphal who was sitting in the back seat of the bus said that all through the ordeal he was conscious, and recalled being surrounded by the badly injured and the dead.
According to a police press release, mini-bus, BKK 3274, driven by Gary McCalmon, attempted to overtake motor lorry, GFF 9747, and in so doing, his vehicle struck the tray of the motor lorry. The mini-bus ended up under the tray of the lorry which ran off the road and struck a utility pole.  The driver of the motor lorry is in police custody assisting with the investigations. He had received minor injuries and was treated at the GPHC and sent away.

Monday, November 23, 2009