The two men were on a bicycle which reportedly collided with a sand truck (GKK 3364) belonging to the Ministry of Public Works. According to the driver of the truck Irwin Stephen, he was proceeding north along the East Bank Highway when two men on the bicycle sped out of a side street into his path.
He said that he blew his horn and tried to pull out of the way of the men but in spite of his best efforts, the two men still collided with the side of his truck. Stephen said that he tried to bring his truck to a halt but felt that he had driven over something.
He said that he believed that after the men collided they fell off the bike and that McKend’s head was crushed by the back wheel of the truck.
He said that he did his best in the circumstances since if he had pulled out of the way, he may have risked hitting pedestrians and bystanders who were in the vicinity. Stephen explained that he was returning to Georgetown after helping some residents on the Lamaha Railway relocate to their new homes in Parfait Harmonie.
The distraught wife of the dead man Enid Jason said that her husband had just left home with a friend known as ‘Sonna Boy.’ She said a few moments later she heard the dreadful news. McKend was the father of six children.
Meanwhile, the other cyclist Bruce Waddell was rushed to the Georgetown hospital in an unconscious state before being transferred to the St Joseph Mercy Hospital.
The man’s mother Marlin Waddell told this newspaper that the 30-year old man was her eldest child and that although he did not have a steady job as such, he would do carpentry work.
Residents in the area said that this particular junction along the East Bank needed traffic lights urgently since it was a site for many accidents.
On January 27, 12-year old Shaneis Henriques lost her life in the vicinity where last night’s accident occurred.
The girl, who was standing on the sidewalk at the time, was hit by a Landcruiser which had reportedly swerved to avoid hitting a car.
