Two teenagers lost their lives on Tuesday night when the car they were in smashed into the concrete base of an arch on the Number 74 Village Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice.
Dead are Balram Nourang, 19, of Lot 22 ‘B’ Number 69 Village, Corentyne and Haresh Ramsaywack, 17, of Lot 241 in the same village. They were the only two occupants of the vehicle when the incident occurred. The vehicle was being driven by Nourang, while Ramsaywack was in the front passenger seat. No other vehicle was said to be involved.
Police said investigations revealed that motor car PEE 6017 was proceeding south at a fast rate when the driver swerved and lost control. The left front door of the vehicle collided with the concrete base of the Number 75 Arch, which is located at the western corner of the Number 74 Public Road. As a result, Nourang was flung out of the vehicle, while Ramsaywack was pinned in the front passenger seat, the police release said.
It added that both occupants sustained head injuries as well as about their bodies and were picked up and taken to Skeldon Hospital, where Dr Lalbachan pronounced them dead on arrival.
When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday afternoon, the Toyota Starlet was wrapped around the base of the arch.
According to several persons, the engine, gear box and battery were flung out of the car on impact. Residents also stated that the car which was destroyed in the accident recently won three drag races at Number 63 beach.
Nourang’s father and other family members were in the process of removing the car from the public road.
At both homes, the families were making preparations for wakes, while relatives and friends gathered to offer condolences
Ramsaywack’s mother, Champwattie Sarran, 44, said her son left home on Tuesday afternoon and never returned home. “He went out and didn’t come back,” she wept. “I was wondering where he was because the place was getting late but he never came home… I kept looking out for him.”
Sarran said that around 11 pm she received a telephone call informing her that her son had been involved in an accident. She and others went to the scene, where her worst fears were confirmed.
She explained that rescuers from the Guyana Fire Service had to cut the car open to lift Ramsaywack out of the vehicle and as they did, he was lifeless.
The mother said her last memory of her son was feeding him food, something she does with all of her children, while he and his sister were cracking jokes.
Nourang’s father Jairam said he too received a phone call about the incident. He stated that when they went to the scene Nourang was lying on the road and appeared to be dead.
The father said he last spoke with his son around 5 pm at which time he had stated that he was going to Skeldon. The 19-year-old Nourang had been a licensed driver for two years and the vehicle belonged to his uncle Omchand Nourang.
Stabroek News understands that the Nourangs operate a meat centre and the vehicle would be used for business purposes; the teenager normally drove it.
Both families explained that the boys were best friends.
They leave to mourn their parents, siblings and other relatives and friends.
Post-mortem examinations will be performed on their remains.
The teens’ deaths closely follow those of Paula Kissoondial, 53, and Akeem Harry, 15, both of Rose Hall Town, on Monday at the Number 46 Village Public Road. The car they were travelling in, PRR 164, was being driven by Kissoondial’s son Winston Collins, 24, when it suffered a blowout, careened across a trench and slammed into a resident’s fence.
Collins was seriously injured along with Keith Ross, 27, and Jermaine Smartt also of Rose Hall.
Reports are that the tyre which blew out was a spare.
