-several hurt after mini-bus, SUV collide
Two persons escaped with minor injuries yesterday afternoon after their car plunged into a trench at Providence, East Bank, not far from the police station.
The accident occurred around 3 pm as the driver of Toyota PKK 3175, was reportedly speeding along the Providence Public road. He lost control of the vehicle while passing the Providence Police station.
According to a pump attendant working at the Texaco Service station located nearby, the car was proceeding south when the driver suddenly accelerated while passing the gas station. He said the car, in which a young lady was sitting in the passenger seat, continued at a fast rate and headed for a nearby shop located at the ‘Mocha road head’, uprooting a telephone pole and a street sign before coming to a rest in a nearby trench.
Another eyewitness told Stabroek News that he and his friends were hanging out at a nearby shop when they noticed the car plunging into the trench.
He said he immediately ran towards the trench to render assistance and observed the car ‘sinking’ as a young lady emerged from the passenger side of the vehicle and later pulled herself out of the trench. The man said he and two of his colleagues then jumped into the trench and after ‘some pulling and tugging’ were able to pull the driver out of the vehicle through the passenger side of the car.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene, relatives of the driver, who resides at Herstelling, were busy making arrangements to have the submerged car extricated from the trench. The vehicle was eventually pulled out of the trench by a tow truck some two hours later.
This newspaper understands that the driver of the car, who escaped with minor injuries, was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre by the police and was expected to undergo a breathalyzer test. He was later taken to the Providence Police Station and is expected to make a court appearance today. The young lady who was a passenger in the car at the time escaped with minor injuries.
Meanwhile, in another accident which also occurred around 3 pm yesterday, three persons sustained injuries when a Route 44 minibus, which was heading east along Carifesta Avenue, collided with a sports utility vehicle which was at the time heading north towards the Kitty seawalls.
Among those injured are the driver of the bus, police officer Raymond Crandon, 31, of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara (ECD), passengers in the bus, Yvette Holder of Vryheid’s Lust, ECD, Michelle Johnson, 38, of Plaisance, Abdool Khan, 18, of Coldingen, ECD and Totaram Mahdoo,20, of the Essequibo Coast. Mahdoo was said to be the driver of the SUV and along with Crandon sustained injuries to their heads. Holder sustained a broken left leg. The three were being admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital when this newspaper visited the medical institution yesterday afternoon.
According to reports the two vehicles collided at the junction where the roads converge near to the seawalls, with the drivers of both vehicles claiming that the other jumped the traffic light.
The police are investigating the circumstances surrounding both accidents.