The Brazilian taxi driver, alleged to be the cause of the accident at Lethem that left a Brazilian vice-consul dead on Saturday, remains hospitalised in the neighbouring country and the police may need to collect more statements to confirm that he was driving in the wrong lane at the time, Traffic Chief Hugh Denhert says.
Denhert told Stabroek News that his ranks have not yet spoken to the man given the extent of his injuries.
Police had said in a statement hours after the accident that Theotonio Santa Cruz Oliveira, 61, the Brazilian vice-consul in Guyana, was killed after he “collided with a motor vehicle proceeding in the opposite direction that had allegedly veered into his driving lane.” The collision occurred on a stretch of road that leads from the administrative building to the Takutu Bridge on the Guyana side of the border.
Casslyn Singh, her two-year-old son, and Gracelyn Nicholson, the secretary of the Brazilian consulate, who were travelling in Oliveira’s vehicle, were also injured.
Denhert said that the investigation in still in progress. He added that the position of the vehicles may suggest that the taxi driver was not in his right lane.
Contacted, Singh’s father, Rudolph Singh, said that the others injured in the accident have improved.
Rudolph said that based on the information he has received, the Brazilian man is an Intensive Care patient. The extent of his injuries are unclear. He said too that “everyone is saying” that he was driving on the wrong side of the road when the collision occurred.
Residents said yesterday that it is a regular occurrence for Brazilians to be found driving on the wrong side of the road because they are yet to become familiar with local traffic laws. According to one resident, many times while driving within the community, he would have to stop in the middle of the roadway because vehicles are driven into his path. The resident said too that although there are road signs, which may be useful, many do not have the time to look at them. It was the first such accident since the road was built.
According to Rudolph, his daughter and two year old grandson are now back in Guyana after receiving medical attention in a hospital in Boa Vista. They were transported back to Guyana in an ambulance on Sunday. Nicholson, he explained, remains hospitalised in the same hospital. He said that she underwent surgery for what he believes was a broken hip.
The man said that his daughter sustained a fractured arm and head injuries and her condition is listed as stable. She has been given medication and a date to return to the Lethem Hospital for an x-ray and a checkup. He said that she is speaking and her condition has improved a lot.
Rudolph told Stabroek News that his daughter has no recollection of what happened on Saturday because the accident “happened quickly.”
He added that the child sustained a fracture just below the knee.
