A 23-year-old Lethem resident died from drowning as he attempted to change the gear of a truck that had skidded off a road at Katunarib, South Central Rupununi ending up in a creek on Friday night.
Dwayne Sancho died as he was attempting to change the gear of the truck he was driving while it was parked in a creek with the engine still running. Sancho drowned after the water level in the creek rose while he was still under the truck. Eight persons were in the vehicle which was transporting fuel to the interior at the time. Aubrey Semple was in the front of Sancho’s vehicle when the accident took place. He related to Stabroek News that Sancho’s vehicle skidded off the road as it was approaching the second bridge on the journey. Semple said that no one was injured in the accident but the truck engine was still on and smoke was coming out of the exhaust. Sancho then went under the vehicle to fix something when the water was waist high.
The water then quickly rose to a level where it is said to have caused Sancho to drown. Semple stated that when he saw his friend’s body it was covered in oil from the truck.
Sancho’s mother, Leslyn Sancho, said that she learnt that her son had perished in the water as he was attempting to change the gear of the vehicle. She said that persons told her that another man who was on the truck went first to change the gear after the vehicle came to a halt in the creek, but he hit his head under the truck and became a bit dizzy, so her son went to see if he could get the job done.
His mother also said that while her son was under the truck, he inhaled the fumes from the exhaust which caused him to complain of feeling unwell. Sancho subsequently came out but returned moments later to make a second attempt and that is when it is believed he collapsed and drowned.
His mother also stated that the other persons in the truck told her that they were focused on the man who was dizzy, so they did not pay any attention to her son who was under the truck. It was only when they realized that Sancho was nowhere to be seen that they became aware he had collapsed under the truck.
Semple related that they left the scene and went to inform Sancho’s relatives of what had transpired. His body was removed from under the truck yesterday.
Sancho had been employed as a driver with his uncle for the past 5 years and had been transporting fuel to the interior using the same route, his mother saud. He was the eldest of four children.
