A 76-year-old grandmother returning to her Berbice home after seeing her daughter board a New York-bound flight died in a horrific smash-up at the intersection of Atlantic Ville and Vryheids Lust on the East Coast of Demerara Public Road shortly after midnight yesterday.
Dead is housewife Ramdularie Singh of Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice. Eight other members of her family and the driver of the bus, Lalta Budhu, aged 46, were also injured. Her grandson, 37-year-old Kamal Lalchand was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) for treatment while the others were treated and sent away.
They are the wife of Kamal, 35-year-old Sharda Lalchand and their children Shalana, 15, Savina, 14, and Sushma, 9; while the other family members were Bidiawattie ‘Shireen’ Ramdalla, 46, Krisendai ‘Lynette’ Singh, 50, and Somerah Ramdalla, 14.
An eyewitness told Stabroek News that it was around 12.20am yesterday that he saw the bus in which the elderly woman was a passenger speeding in an eastbound direction.
It then attempted to overtake a truck on the U-Turn where Atlantic Ville meets Vryheids Lust when it collided with a car proceeding west and spun around, which caused the truck to slam into its back.
“We were drinking and see this blue bus coming speed and then try overtaking a truck pun de corner …but like he didn’t see the car coming round the bend and he try slowing up and pulling over, but hit the car, spin round and by this time the bus run straight into he back,” said one resident of Atlantic Ville.
He added that public spirited persons immediately rushed to assist the injured. “We drop we beers and run out; people from all them houses like they hear the ‘blam!’ and everybody came to help,” he said. The injured were transported by passing vehicles to the GPH. Ramdularie Singh succumbed while receiving emergency treatment from doctors at the hospital.
When this newspaper visited, the hospitalized Kamal Lalchand was groggy from the medication he was receiving and was complaining of the pain he felt all over his body.
His wife Sharda informed this newspaper that her family had hired the minibus to take her mother and father-in-law to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport(CJIA), as they were going on vacation to the United States. She said that she was asleep on the return journey and did not see what transpired.
Police in a press release said that they were investigating the accident which occurred about 0030hrs yesterday on the Montrose Public Road, ECD.
Investigations revealed that the driver of minibus BNN 7851 attempted to overtake motor lorry GNN 5130 and collided with motor car PMM 1123 which was proceeding in the opposite direction. Following the collision, the motor lorry ran into the rear of the mini-bus, the release said.
The drivers of the three vehicles are in police custody assisting with the investigations.
