A night of partying ended tragically for six friends after one of them fell out of the back of an open-back pick-up truck and died.
Rohan Simon, 18, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital at around 1 am yesterday. Indar Singh, 20, of De Hoop, Mahaica, who also fell out of the vehicle and was injured, was treated at the hospital and then transferred to Woodlands Hospital later yesterday morning. Singh sustained injuries to his ribs and his face.
At Simon’s residence in Vevay, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, his sister told Stabroek News that she received a call around 12:30 am and was told by another relative that her younger brother was dead, while the other one was in police custody.
When she had inquired about her brother’s death, she was told that he and some friends were travelling home when the vehicle made a sudden turn, which resulted in her brother being flung head first out of the pick-up, hitting his head on a nearby pole.
Simon’s older brother was in the vehicle at the time of the incident and was shattered by what he had witnessed. “We just come back from sporting and going home.
When Anil [the driver of the vehicle] made a sudden turn on the road, and then Rohan and Indar pitch out,” Rohan’s brother, Delroy Thomas said. “We then pick them up and rush them to the hospital,” he said.
Stabroek News was told by another relative that the six boys were out drinking the night before and on the way home the driver made a rash turn on the Airy Hall Public Road.
The relative also said that the driver, who was unlicensed, was still in police custody. “His father come and say that he de driving the vehicle at the time and not his son, so the police hold all two ah them,” the individual related.
Up to yesterday afternoon, the driver and his father were still in custody as investigations were still underway.
