A speeding army patrol vehicle slammed into a car yesterday morning sending soldiers and their weapons crashing to the road.
The pick-up toppled thrice upon impact on the East Coast Highway just off the Ogle airstrip road.
Seven officers were injured in the accident. The driver of the car was uninjured.
Police in a press release yesterday said three of the officers were admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital, while three others were receiving medical attention at the Guyana Defence Force Medical Corps Division, Camp Ayanganna. The seventh officer was treated and sent away.
Police said investigations have so far revealed that the GDF vehicle was proceeding east along the northern carriageway of the Ogle Public Road, while a car driven by Maylene Saul of Courida Park, East Coast Demerara, was travelling north, heading into Courida Park when the collision occurred.
An eyewitness told Stabroek News that around 10.30 am, a number of vehicles had stopped at the traffic lights at the East Coast highway and Courida Park intersection. The man said he saw the army pick-up, number plate DFB 1471, drive past a number of vehicles using the inside lane and then without heeding the stoplight, speed over the road. Apparently, its driver had not noticed the car, which was coming from the Ogle airstrip road, heading towards the entrance to Courida Park.
“By time he fly past the other vehicles waiting for the go-sign, the lady was coming in the car and he slam into the front of the car and also hit the side of it. And by he was speeding so much, he topple over and all them boys and they weapons fly out on the road and in the drain,” the eyewitness recounted.
Meanwhile Saul, who was driving the car with number plate PDD 4034, told Stabroek News that the traffic light signal was in her favour when she drove ahead, but the next thing she knew, she felt a heavy impact and then saw the army pick-up topple.
“The vehicle came in a terrific speed. I saw it coming from the inside but didn’t realize until I was hit. But when I was almost about entering my street the light changed to amber,” Saul told this newspaper. The woman, who walks with a stick, said she was just a little dizzy after the accident but thanked God that she was not injured.
Her neighbours, who came out on the street, argued that the army patrol was reckless.
“This is a regular thing when they speeding going further up the coast. Rarely you would see them waiting for that light to change properly. And the thing is, their vehicles are not insured and so you have nothing to get from insurance to get your vehicle fixed,” one man said.
He too said that when the men tumbled from the vehicle their weapons were scattered all over the road.
Other officers were on the scene when this newspaper arrived and were seen checking the parapet for rounds.
