Linden residents are mourning the loss of one of their own after he perished in an accident along the Ituni, Upper Berbice River road, which also resulted in several other residents, including the driver of the truck, being injured.
The accident occurred approximately two miles from Ituni, along the span with Kwakwani.
Allan Kishore Mendonca, 30, died on the spot at 8:40am yesterday when a lumber truck he was working on as a porter suffered a blowout and toppled.
Injured were the truck driver Seuchand Swammy, 40, of Lower Kara Kara, Speightland Linden; Linden Lim, 17 years of Ituni, Upper Berbice River; Victor Gobin aka Romano, 36 years of Calcuni, Upper Berbice River; Faye Jacobs, 35 years of Calcuni, Upper Berbice River; Baboo Rambharrat, 62 years of Lower Kara Kara, Speightland and Linden Couchman, aka Buck, of Lower Kara Kara, Speightland Linden.
Recounting what occurred, the driver said that he left the UNAMCO trail early yesterday morning with his porter Mendonca, Couchman and Rambharrat when in the vicinity of Goat Farm road the trailer suffered a blowout causing the truck and trailer to topple. Lim said that he had hitched a ride to head home to Ituni while Jacobs and Gobin were also doing the same.
Couchman and Rambharrat were in the cabin of the truck while the others were on the trailer. According to Lim his life was saved because he heeded the advice given by his father some time ago. “I remember my father tell me if any time yuh deh on truck and it washing fuh one side, yuh muss jump fuh deh other side,” said the teenager who kept thanking his father for the advice. He explained that the truck was going at a relatively fast rate and when it had the blowout, the trailer laden with logs moved causing the truck to topple.
“I remember looking back and see Allan looking at me when I look around again the truck start washing and I jump fuh deh other side.” He said that he believed that he had hit himself hard and lost consciousness for a short while. “When I ketch mehself I shake meh head and start walking around the truck and I see Allan two foot in deh air and a log smash he head down,” Lim recollected.
He also recalled seeing Gobin being pinned under the cabin of the truck and his wife Jacobs rushed to his rescue. “I show she (Jacobs) he (Gobin) under deh truck and she shake, shake he till he start moving and we fight till we pull he out.”
Gobin is currently a patient at the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) suffering injuries to the head. At the time of his arrival at the LHC he was bleeding through his nostrils and he had a gaping wound to the back of his head. He was conscious and has been listed in stable condition. All the injured were first taken to the Ituni Hospital where they received initial care before being transferred to the LHC.
Jacobs said that she and her husband left the backdam on Wednesday when they were given a ride for part of their journey. “We waited a good distance down from where deh accident happen and then we get a ride from deh truck.” She said that she couldn’t recall exactly how she managed to jump off the trailer but remembered it rocking and turning over.
“I remember that when we get deh blowout another big truck deh just pass we and then deh trailer start washing.” The woman said that she feared the worst when she realized that her husband was pinned and was motionless. Jacobs, Rambharrat, Sammy, Lim and Couchman escaped with minor injuries.
All the injured with the exception of Couchman were rushed to the LHC where they received medical attention. Couchman stayed behind with the body of Mendonca.
The accident occurred approximately one and a half hours’ drive from Linden.
Relatives of the deceased flocked the LHC and were quietly awaiting the arrival of the body. The deceased’s partner and mother of their nine-month-old child, Geneva Persaud, was being consoled by her mother and other close friends and relatives.
She told Stabroek News that her husband left their Lower Kara Kara, Speightland home on Wednesday morning for his usual job as a porter working with Swammy.
“I get a call from Swammy wife this morning and she tell me that deh truck reach in accident and Allan dead,” said Persaud as she struggled to hold back her tears.
Police from Ituni were dispatched to the scene. Police in Linden were present at the LHC following up on the investigations.
