Twenty-year-old Janelle Marshall died early yesterday morning in Wismar when the truck she was travelling in crashed into a store before hitting a lamp pole on Burnham Drive and injuring the other three passengers.
The accident occurred around 3:20 am and led to a blackout. Speaking with Stabroek News the owner of the store said she heard the thunderous collision and then the lights went out. She said that after the lights went out she decided to take a look outside. “I thought it was a transformer. But when I look carefully I saw de truck in a funny position.” The businesswoman said that she decided to go out to investigate only to find that a serious accident had occurred.
She recounted that Janelle was hanging out of the left window of the truck. The driver, Birchmore Graham, 21, of 1st Alley Hill was in excruciating pain. He was pinned in his seat screaming at the top of his voice. Sherwin Griffith, 23, of 1954 Central Amelia’s Ward was out of the truck holding on to his hand. The fourth passenger, Aaren Bascom, 26, of Bulletwood Street, Mackenzie was in a delirious state and screaming.
Sherwin jumped into a car which took him to the hospital and Aaren was assisted by another car which had driven up on the scene. She fell unconscious but soon after regained consciousness. She was treated for a minor head injury and a puncture to the right leg and sent home.
The businesswoman said that she had to get her truck to pull out the ill-fated canter and with the aid of public-spirited residents they managed to get the driver out of the truck.
Marshall was taken out alive from the vehicle. “When some people took her out of the truck she started gasping and then they realized that she was still alive and rushed her to the hospital.” She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Marshall lived with Aaren and they both had gone to party at the Ice Rock in McKenzie. Recounting what transpired Aaren said that after they had left the night club they went in search of food. She said just as they passed the Wismar Police Station they noticed a white car approaching them at high speed and the driver of the truck swerved to avoid hitting the car and crashed into the store and the lamp pole.
The truck belongs to the family of Sherwin and they depended on it for their livelihood. From all indications the truck appears to be a write-off.
Other sources said that the ill-fated truck was seen racing with an orange mini bus. The bus was said to have been ahead of the truck and did not realize that it had crashed. Sources said that they believe that the driver was heading home with the intention of letting Sherwin, who lived at Amelia’s Ward, take the girls, who lived at Mackenzie, home. The driver lives a short distance away from the scene of the accident.
Both the driver and the other male occupant of the vehicle were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital. This newspaper understands that the driver’s feet were crushed while Sherwin suffered a broken hand.
Stabroek News caught up with Marshall’s mother at the Linden Hospital Complex who said that her daughter had left her home after she attained adulthood. She lived for a while in Georgetown and after returning to Linden she lived with a neighbour of Aaren’s and shortly after she moved into the same home with Aaren. She had no children. At the time of her death she was pursuing a course in cosmetology at a popular school in Linden.