A 12-year-old boy of La Union, West Coast Demerara was struck down and killed just after midnight yesterday by an alleged drunk driver who has been taken into custody.
Isaiah Khan, a Grade Seven student of Windsor Forest Secondary landed on the bonnet of the car PMM 4884 and crashed into the windscreen before being flung into a clump of grass.
In tears, his mother, Natasha Bacchus told Stabroek News that he left home around 11:30 pm on Tuesday to accompany his sisters, Melissa, 16 and Crystal, 15, who was not feeling well, to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
She said they caught a minibus to go and returned in the taxi. They had just exited the taxi when the car that was coming from the opposite direction hit her son. The car also knocked down and killed a dog.
Melissa, she said, pulled Crystal into the grass with her to avoid being hit as well and they both started screaming.
Natasha said she and her husband, James heard when the taxi stopped and they got up and opened the door. Just then they heard the loud “blam!”
Suddenly the place became quiet and a few seconds later the girls erupted in loud screaming.
Fearing the worst, the couple ran out on the road to investigate and saw their daughters coming out from the grass.
They asked for Isaiah but the girls did not know where he was. James then began a frantic search for his son. A few minutes later he retrieved the lifeless body from the grass.
The car ended up some distance away and an occupant returned and identified himself as a police officer and asked what happened.
The taxi driver responded: “Wah happen? y’all knock down the people children…” Another policeman and a female were also in the car with the driver.
One of the officers then went to the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station and returned with the traffic ranks. A hearse also arrived at the same time and picked up the body and took it to the hospital’s mortuary.
This newspaper was also shown photos of beer bottles scattered in the car. Police in a release said that “the driver of the motor vehicle was tested and found to be above the legal limit in terms of the consumption of alcohol.”
A former neighbour, Natalie Smith, described Isaiah, who was her godchild from one day old as a very loving and caring child. She cried as she lamented that “he didn’t do anything to deserve a death like that.”
