Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs yesterday further remanded the driver involved in the fatal smash-up at Beehive when he appeared at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court.
Shameer Hassan Alli was ordered to return to court on Tuesday. Police Prosecutor Edmund Cooper told the court that there is the likelihood that the defendant would interfere with witnesses and pervert the flow of justice by evading trial.
Three persons died in the accident on the evening of March 28 when motor lorry number GGG 6513 reportedly swerved to avoid hitting cattle on the Beehive, East Coast public road and slammed into minibus BJJ 1606.
Bus driver Desmond Datterdeen died on the spot after his skull was smashed in while school teacher Marisa Assaye and canteen operator Mohammed Akbar Mohammed died en route to the hospital. Thirteen other persons were injured; five of whom remain hospitalised with serious injuries.
Stabroek News was told that accident victim Rawle Wood, 25, of Goed Intent, Mahaica, was taken to the St Claire Hospital in Trinidad earlier this week for medical treatment. His sister Vanessa Wood said the man is in a coma. She said while Rawle was a patient in the Georgetown hospital’s Intensive Care Unit the family had been told that he had suffered head injuries but the extent of the injuries were not made clear to them.
The woman said her brother has a cracked temple and skull. His brain is said to be swollen in three places and the doctors told his father, who accompanied him to Trinidad, that he also has pneumonia. Rawle also suffered injuries to one of his eyes and is reportedly bleeding from one of his ears. Vanessa said the doctors are waiting for the swelling to subside before they attempt to awake him from unconsciousness and perform any operations.
Meanwhile, Wood’s other sister Jacquelyn Wood who was also in the accident, has been discharged from the hospital. However, the woman said that she wears a neck brace and suffers from sporadic aches and pains.
Rawle, who resides in the Dominican Republic, was home to visit his family when tragedy struck. His sister said he was supposed to have returned this week. (Melissa Charles)