A 29–year-old Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) cyclist was fatally struck down by a pick-up last evening while heading home and his 4-year old son is fighting for his life.
Dead is Rajendra Sugrim, a carpenter of Lot 61, Mon Repos while his son Lakhram Sugrim who he was towing on his bicycle is in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH). The child sustained mainly head injuries and according to a hospital source, doctors were working desperately to save his life last evening.
According to an eyewitness, around 6:45 pm, he was driving west along the Mon Repos Public road close to the market when he heard a loud bang. He said when he looked up he saw a bicycle being flung into a corner of the road while a man lay motionless on the ground.
“Me and the driver come out and run go see what happen and we see the man like he dead then we notice the kid …he was breathing and we pick him up and bring him here (GPH)” , the man noted. He said that the pick-up, which bears registration PMM 607 and which was heading towards the city at the time, stopped more than 200 meters from the point of impact.
Sugrim and his son were returning to their home after visiting an ice-cream parlour farther west along the public road.
When this newspaper arrived at the scene, scores of residents of the community had converged at the pavement opposite the market square to get a glimpse of Sugrim’s body which was wrapped in a sheet. According to persons on the scene, the driver of the pick-up was drunk and following the collision, he attempted to run away from the scene but was later cornered and handed over to the police at the Beterverwagting Police station.
At Sugrim’s home, grief permeated the air as scores of relatives gathered to sympathise with the man’s wife who wept uncontrollably as she recounted memories of him and their two children. Sugrim’s cousin noted that many evenings, the man would take his family farther down the road to an ice-cream parlour but she noted that since his car is at the mechanic shop, he decided to ride to the parlour with his son.
According to the woman, the man was the sole breadwinner of his family.
The driver of the vehicle involved in the accident was being questioned by police last evening.
