The cyclist struck dead on Sunday by an ambulance from the Skeldon Hospital was yesterday identified as Zulfikar Rahaman, 34, called ‘Milo’ of Rose Hall Town.
An eyewitness told this publication, “I was sitting at the shop and this man was riding across the road. And the ambulance came with full speed and hit the man down.”
“The ambulance hit the man and he pitched till in front of the street there,” another eyewitness interjected. He added that when the ambulance hit Rahaman, he “went up into the air and fell approximately 70 feet away from the pedestrian crossing”.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene on Sunday evening, scores of residents from Rose Hall Town flocked the area. Police had already arrived and were conducting investigations.
Rahaman’s damaged bicycle lay a few feet away from his body.
Rahaman was later taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to Rahaman’s mother, Kamla Sukhra, 50, she learnt of the tragedy after receiving a phone call from her friend and by the time she got to the scene her son had already taken away.
Farida Rahaman, 32, sister of the deceased, described her brother as a good person. “He doesn’t trouble anybody. He tek he drinks and go home,” she added.
The family said Rahaman lived alone and they were not in close contact. His mother injected that the last time she spoke to her son was some time after Christmas.
Meanwhile, the Land Rover ambulance, PKK 386, was seen in the New Amsterdam Hospital compound. Police in a release yesterday said “The driver of the motor vehicle is in police custody assisting with the investigations”.
Stabroek News understands that the driver, after dropping off a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital, turned himself in at the Central Police Station.
A post-mortem examination is expected to be performed soon. Police said investigations are continuing.
