A 57-year-old father of eight died on Wednesday after he was struck down by a sand truck on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway around 8 am, while returning home from work.
Ronville Roberts, of Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital. The man was a security guard attached to the COPS security firm.
Police in a press release said that investigations revealed that the driver of motor lorry GLL 319 was proceeding along the highway. It is alleged that he reversed the vehicle during which time the pedal cyclist was struck down.
When Stabroek News visited the dead man’s wife, Ingrid Schmidt, she explained that she received the news moments after the accident and by the time she ran out to the scene, only her husband’s bag and wrecked bicycle were there.
“All they had was his bicycle, they put it in the police vehicle and when she [her daughter] asked for his bag, they said the bag is for evidence and when they pick up back the bag, he cell phone gone,” the grieving woman explained.
Schmidt further stated that the police did not speak to her but only asked her name and her husband’s name before they left the scene.
Her daughter, Michelle, explained that her father was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre by public-spirited citizens. Another sibling, Yonette, she said, travelled to the hospital but they were in too much shock to accompany her. There, she stated, her father was given saline, oxygen and several x-rays were taken.
“The x-ray show that his hip break… The thing burst him open. His hip went straight up into his intestines,” Schmidt explained while frustratingly holding her head.
After much effort by doctors at the Diamond hospital, Michelle said, her father was required to be transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. The man died in the ambulance, while being taken there.
Meanwhile, the driver of the truck had escaped after hitting Roberts and abandoned the vehicle along the highway.
However, relatives of the deceased indicated that the driver has since been arrested by police and is currently assisting with investigations. He is expected to appear at the Providence Magistrates’ Court today.
Relatives of Roberts said he was known to be a very loving, understanding and peaceful person.
