By Cathy Richards
A 61-year-old Wismar man, who was returning home from his sister’s Georgetown funeral with a car load of relatives, died last night after the vehicle slammed into the side of a stationary truck without its park lights on.
Leon Yaw of 1st Forest Alley, Wismar, Linden died shortly after motor car PJJ 356, driven by his nephew Wendell Yaw, slammed into a “parked bush truck” and flipped into a gulley off the Linden/Soesdyke Highway at Moblissa.
A 5-year-old child, Akeem Hinds, who was among the car’s passengers in the backseat, was up to last night in a critical condition and was being rushed from the Linden Hospital to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He sustained head injuries.
A shaken Wendell Yaw, 54, of Wismar Housing Scheme, Linden told Stabroek News shortly after 9.30 last night that he and his relatives were returning to Linden after attending the funeral when the accident occurred. Wendell’s wife Paulette was sitting beside him in front passenger seat while the deceased, his brother and wife Colette, 39, along with Hinds were in the backseat. Wendell recalled that he was driving along in the vicinity of the Moblissa Bridge area when he “came across a truck” parked without its lights on along the side of the highway. He said that by the time he noticed the truck “it was too late” and he couldn’t do much.
“I attempt to pull away from the truck but I wasn’t able to do that,” Wendell reported. “It was already too late…I slam into the side of the parked truck…the truck didn’t have on any back indicators or anything.”
After the car came to a halt, Wendell recalled, he immediately slipped from behind the wheel and checked to see if his relatives were alright. The man said he called out and asked if they were all fine and everyone, but Leon, responded. It wasn’t until Wendell managed to turn on the car’s internal light that they discovered Leon motionless and a gaping wound in the child’s head. He and the other survivors grabbed Hinds and climbed out of the gulley. They stopped a minibus which transported them to the Linden Hospital. Paulette, Colette, the driver and Leon’s brother sustained minor injuries.
Meanwhile, the twin brother of the deceased told Stabroek News that he was travelling to Linden in “a big bus” and was behind his relatives who were in PJJ 356. The man said that when he passed the scene of the accident police were present and were helping to gather the scattered items from the truck. The bus, in which he was travelling, didn’t stop to investigate because they couldn’t see the second vehicle involved and didn’t think it was anything serious.
“When I pass the accident scene I didn’t realize that my brothers and my other relatives were the ones involved in the accident,” the distressed man said. “When I got to Linden I got a phone call informing me about what had happen…I got the shock of my life.”
The stretch of road along the Moblissa area where the accident occurred was described as being “pitch black”. Persons who use the route often said that there were no lights, save for that provided by your vehicle, along the road.
