Several persons, including a heavily-pregnant woman, were injured last evening following an accident on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) public road, in the vicinity of Ogle, where a Route 44 minibus collided head-on with a private car which was ferrying a patient to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Those who sustained injur-ies included Ganesh Jagan, 78, of La Bonne Intention (LBI) Housing Scheme, ECD; his wife Phulmat Ganesh, 68; their daughters Sahadrie Sukdeo, 52 and Shanti Ganesh said to be in her 50s; the driver of the car, whose name was given as Kenneth of LBI; Ruth Sam, 34, her niece Carleia Stewart, and Sam’s mother Lorna Drusis, 52, all residents of Plaisance.
Jagan sustained injuries to his head and feet, his wife, who was being taken to the hospital when the accident occurred, sustained several cuts about the body. Their daughters also bore several cuts and bruises about their body. Sam, meanwhile, sustained bruises and cuts to her left knee, right temple and her left instep; her mother sustained a cut to her forehead; while 2 year old Carleia escaped with minor scratches to her body.
The accident occurred around 6pm last evening and according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Stabroek News at the scene, one of the traffic lights at the junction had seconds earlier changed to green, allowing traffic to proceed east along the highway, while traffic proceeding west waited for the light to change from red. According to an eyewitness, as soon as traffic proceeding east was allowed to go, the Route 44 minibus BHH 5251, which was bound for Plaisance, turned right for the Ogle airstrip road when the car, which reportedly had its hazard lights illuminated, proceeded into the path of the minibus, resulting in the two vehicles colliding head on at the busy junction. The eyewitness related that after the accident the driver of the car explained that he ‘drove through the light’ since he was trying to reach the hospital with a patient.
Speaking to Stabroek News last evening at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), Sam, who is 7 months pregnant, related that she was sitting in the conductor’s seat of the minibus along with her mother and niece when the accident occurred. She said the minibus driver was waiting for the “light to turn green,” and was at the time attempting to turn into Ogle Road “to catch the line –top.” She said as the bus moved off, she looked up and saw the car “coming out of no where” from the opposing lane, slamming into the front of the minibus. A traumatized Sam said her mother pitched through the minibus door on impact.
Ganesh Jagan’s relatives expressed fits of anger and anxiety as the elderly man lay on a stretcher outside the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of the GPH awaiting medical attention. The man was bleeding from his ears and mouth and was gasping for breath as his anxious relatives stood outside of A&E.
The drivers of both vehicles were last evening being questioned by ranks at the Sparendaam Police Station. (Alva Solomon)
