Several persons, including a heavily-pregnant woman, were
injured last evening following an accident on the East Coast
of Demerara (ECD) public road, in the vicinity of Ogle,
where a Route 44 minibus collided head-on with a private car
which was ferrying a patient to the Georgetown Public
Hospital.
Those who sustained injur-ies included:
-Ganesh Jagan, 78,
of La Bonne Intention (LBI) Housing Scheme, ECD;
-his wife
Phulmat Ganesh, 68;
-their daughters Sahadrie Sukdeo, 52 and
Shanti Ganesh said to be in her 50s;
-the driver of the car,
whose name was given as Kenneth of LBI;
-Ruth Sam, 34, her
niece Carleia Stewart, and Sam’s mother Lorna Drusis, 52,
all residents of Plaisance.
Ruth
Sam awaits medical attention at the GPH last evening while
sitting behind her is Phulmat Ganesh g who was grimacing in
pain.
Jagan sustained injuries to his head and feet, his wife,
who was being taken to the hospital when the accident
occurred, sustained several cuts about the body. Their
daughters also bore several cuts and bruises about their
body. Sam, meanwhile, sustained bruises and cuts to her left
knee, right temple and her left instep; her mother sustained
a cut to her forehead; while 2 year old Carleia escaped with
minor scratches to her body.
The Route 44 minibus which was
involved in the accident last evening.
The accident occurred around 6pm last evening and
according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Stabroek News at the
scene, one of the traffic lights at the junction had seconds
earlier changed to green, allowing traffic to proceed east
along the highway, while traffic proceeding west waited for
the light to change from red. According to an eyewitness, as
soon as traffic proceeding east was allowed to go, the Route
44 minibus BHH 5251, which was bound for Plaisance, turned
right for the Ogle airstrip road when the car, which
reportedly had its hazard lights illuminated, proceeded into
the path of the minibus, resulting in the two vehicles
colliding head on at the busy junction. The eyewitness
related that after the accident the driver of the car
explained that he ‘drove through the light’ since he was
trying to reach the hospital with a patient.
Speaking to Stabroek News last evening at the Georgetown
Public Hospital (GPH), Sam, who is 7 months pregnant,
related that she was sitting in the conductor’s seat of
the minibus along with her mother and niece when the
accident occurred. She said the minibus driver was waiting
for the “light to turn green,” and was at the time
attempting to turn into Ogle Road “to catch the line
–top.” She said as the bus moved off, she looked up and
saw the car “coming out of no where” from the opposing
lane, slamming into the front of the minibus. A traumatized
Sam said her mother pitched through the minibus door on
impact.
Ganesh Jagan’s relatives expressed fits of anger and
anxiety as the elderly man lay on a stretcher outside the
Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of the GPH
awaiting medical attention. The man was bleeding from his
ears and mouth and was gasping for breath as his anxious
relatives stood outside of A&E.
The drivers of both vehicles were last evening being
questioned by ranks at the Sparendaam Police Station. (Alva
Solomon)
