A three-year-old boy succumbed on Saturday to injuries he sustained when he and his sister were struck down at Mahaicony.
Komal Balkaran, of Lot 4, Quakers Hall, Mahaicony, died at around 15:30 hours in the Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he had been on life support since the accident.
The toddler was pinned by a minibus on January 11 while returning home from a nearby shop with his sister, 19-year-old Sita Balkaran. She suffered injuries, including several cuts and bruises about the body and was discharged from the hospital after her brother passed away on the same day.
According to reports, the driver of the bus fell asleep at the wheel.
The boy remained in a critical condition throughout after complications arose with one of his lungs.
“They say he ain’t got no problems with he head, no broken arms or foot. Is just he lung that injure,” the child’s mother, Sabena Balkaran, had previously told this newspaper.
When Stabroek News contacted the child’s aunt, Sita, yesterday, she said that doctors have not yet explained the cause of Komal’s death but were only able to say that he died while on life support.
“The baby did not respond to the life support machine… when we visit him around 12 o’ clock yesterday (Saturday) his tongue was out his mouth then around 3-3:30pm we heard he died,” the woman said.
She explained that before he was picked up from the road on the day of the accident, Komal was still moving his hands and able to breathe on his own. However, after undergoing surgery a few hours later, he was left in an unconscious state.
A post-mortem examination is expected to be performed today while plans for a funeral are yet to be made. “We have some overseas family that are coming so it depends on when they arrive we will probably do the funeral on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the injured 19-year-old is said to be 85% better though her injuries are still very visible and she remains in much pain. “She still got black and blue bruises all over her body and the one eye is still not opening,” her aunt stated.
Sita further stated that she visited the Mahaicony Police Station two times yesterday to report her nephew’s death and was told that the driver has since been arrested and released on $150,000 bail. The man is scheduled to appear at the Mahaicony Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.
The mother of the two children, Sabena, had initially told this newspaper that the accident occurred around 10am, while the two were returning home from a nearby shop. She was not at home at the time. “I was at the NIS office looking after some documents and when I come out some people tell me my children get accident on the road in front my house,” she recalled.
The woman said she rushed to the Mahaicony Hospital, but when she got there she was told that the children had to be taken in an ambulance to the GPH. “I get a bus and come down quick and find both of them downstairs at the accident ward,” she said.
The mother related that the driver spoke to her later that evening in the presence of the police and admitted that he had fallen asleep. She further stated that the man indicated he had been travelling to Berbice.
According to eyewitnesses, the man was said to be on the other lane, in the path of oncoming vehicles.
Sita who lives close by said she saw when they were struck down and pinned by the bus which reportedly flipped before coming to a halt. The driver escaped unharmed. “It’s supposed to be a load bus that does sell at Bourda Market… was he alone in the bus,” she noted.
