An accident on the Corentyne Highway early yesterday morning has taken the life of a 37-year-old minibus driver, who was the sole occupant of his vehicle at the time.
Dead is Romain Drepaul of Lot 7 Section ‘A’ Lancaster Village, Corentyne.
Stabroek News understands that Drepaul was driving minibus BHH 3711 along the Corentyne Highway at Bush Lot. Reports are that the bus hit a donkey that was on the highway, ran off the road, and smashed into the rear of a parked truck belonging to the Guyana Power and Light Inc.
People from the area heard the impact and ran to Drepaul’s aid, but could do nothing as he was tightly pinned behind the steering wheel. It took a tractor along with the assistance of residents of the community and police officers from Whim Police Station to rip out the driver’s side of the vehicle along with the steering wheel to free the trapped man.
According to Raffina Ali, Drepaul’s sister-in-law, the man had left home earlier that night to visit relatives. He would have been on his way back home when the accident occurred.
The police said in a press release that the accident occurred at 12.30 am yesterday.
In the wee hours of yesterday, she said, a minibus driver, who they knew, went and told them that Drepaul had been in an accident and that they should go quickly because it was serious.
When they got there, Drepaul was still pinned by the steering wheel and people were still making futile manual efforts to extricate him.
The sister-in-law said, “Me see meh brother-in-law hand hang outside de window and he head turn to one side, and he look unconscious. We had to tek one tractor and pull out ah front side and steering wheel to free he foot.“
The woman said Drepaul had been a careful driver and had never been involved in an accident before.
Relatives told Stabroek News that apart from a small wound on the left side of his forehead, which was bleeding Drepaul appeared to be unscathed by the accident. However, he was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was
pronounced dead a few minutes later.
When Stabroek News visited the man’s home yesterday morning a number of mourners, most of whom were schoolmates and teachers of Drepaul’s nine-year-old son Renaldo, had gathered.
His oldest daughter, 13-year-old Farzana, tearfully related that the last time she saw her father was around 7.30 pm on Sunday. He had taken her along with her brother and little sister to the horse races earlier in the day. Shortly after they returned home, she said, his brother called from Number 43 Village and asked to see him.
According to Farzana, her dad told her mom “ah goin and ah coming back jus now”, but he never returned.
Drepaul’s youngest daughter Serena, was jovial like any other four-year-old and seemingly oblivious of what had occurred. The man’s wife, Shereen Ali was at the hospital when this newspaper visited.
Relatives said two things were responsible for the accident; the stray animals on the road and the truck parked on the shoulder of the road. “If dem things nah been deh, Romain would still been alive today,” a relative said.
Drepaul leaves to mourn his wife Shereen Ali and three children, along with relatives and friends.
Meanwhile, the minibus and truck are at the Whim police station and police are continuing their investigations.