One man is dead and another critically injured following a collision between an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and a motorcar at the small community of Princeville, located close to Mahdia in Region 8 on Saturday evening.
According to a police source at Mahdia, around 6:15 pm on Saturday, 24-year-old miner Narine Harrichand was riding an ATV bike along the roadway linking Mahdia and Princeville with his workmate, Shane Lawrence, said to be in his early 20s, in tow when they collided with a taxi which was proceeding in the opposite direction.
An eyewitness reported last evening that the men were travelling at a fast rate along the roadway when the two vehicles collided. She said that Harrichand and Lawrence, who were heading to Princeville, were flung several feet away from the point of impact, adding that the former sustained severe head injuries and his neck was said to have been broken.
She said that Lawrence, sustained injuries to his head, shoulders and legs and he reportedly lost a significant amount of blood while at the scene of the accident. He is now a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), after being transferred from the area yesterday.
The father of the deceased told Stabroek News at the Lykens Funeral Home that his son sustained several head injuries, adding that during the impact, he also suffered a wound to his abdomen.
Both men were picked up and rushed to the Mahdia District Hospital where Harrichand was pronounced dead on arrival. A source at the hospital in the hinterland community noted last evening that the injured man was slipping in and out of consciousness for most of the day yesterday.
After several hours of waiting for a flight to enter the mining community yesterday during poor weather, the man was air-dashed to the city shortly after lunch. He was subsequently admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the GPH.
According to a police source at Mahdia, while the matter is still being investigated, both motorists were said to have been travelling at a fast rate along the roadway prior to the collision.
The deceased and the injured man were said to be new to the area as persons in the mining community noted yesterday that they recently travelled to Mahdia to work at a mining concession there. Harrichand’s father noted that his son had been working in the mining industry for close to three years.
He said that his son’s death came as a shock to the family, and according to him, the young man was in the process of developing himself.
At the family’s home last evening at Tuschen on the East Bank of Essequibo, numerous relatives and friends gathered as many shared memories of the young man when he was alive. He leaves to mourn his parents and three siblings and he is expected to be buried later this week.
The driver of the car is in police custody assisting with investigations.
The accident comes amid a spate that has claimed many lives recently and upped the pressure on the government and the police to do something about it.
Two Mondays ago five persons died on Homestretch Avenue after a minibus suffered a tyre blow-out.
