Minutes after he dropped off a passenger, a taxi driver was killed when another vehicle crashed into his car, in the vicinity of the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara (ECD) late Wednesday night.
Cecil Gilkes, called Jim Calender, 63, of Lot 22 Evan Phillips Park, Agricola, East Bank Demerara died before reaching the Georgetown Public Hospital. The other driver, identified as Rabindra Sookram, of Thomas Street, Kitty, was admitted a patient of the same institution.
At the time of the accident, Sookram was said to be under the influence of alcohol and was driving at a fast rate. His condition is listed as stable.
Police said in a press release that they were investigating the fatal accident, which occurred at about 23:35 hours, at the Liliendaal Railway Embankment Road, ECD.
Investigations, the release said, revealed that Gilkes was driving motor car HB 2158 while Sookram was driving motor car HB 7798, with both vehicles proceeding in the same direction along the roadway. It is reported that HB 7798 collided with HB 2158, causing both drivers to lose control of their vehicles and sustain injuries, the release said, while adding that both men were rushed to the hospital.
Gilkes’ son, Quacey, said that his father, who had been attached to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport as a taxi driver, had just dropped off a passenger and was heading home when he met his death. He said one of his father’s colleagues had also dropped off someone in that area and as he was heading back to the city, he saw two girls running and he asked them what was wrong. Quacey said that the girls related to Gilkes’ colleagues that there was an accident further up the road. The man told relatives that when he arrived at the scene, he saw Gilkes lying on the road and got no response when he called out his name. It was shortly after this that police arrived and rushed Gilkes to the hospital but he was already dead, Quacey said.
He said that based on what they were told, the other taxi slammed into the back of Gilkes’ car, moments after he had crossed the bridge near the Conference Centre. The man said sadly that when he saw his father in the treatment room at the hospital, there was no blood or wounds on the body. The man opined that the collision may have resulted in his father fracturing his neck.
He recalled that when he last saw his father on Tuesday, he was his usual self. He described his father as a friendly, jovial and hardworking person.
Meanwhile, Gilkes’ wife Desiree told this newspaper that she last saw him on Wednesday before he left for work and spoke to him that night. Gilkes leaves to mourn his wife, his son and six grandchildren. When Stabroek News visited Sookram in hospital yesterday, he was crying out for chest pains. He said he was “not up for speaking today.”
