A woman is dead and three others are badly injured after a car ran into them last night evening along the Harmony Hall, Mahaicony public road.
Confirmed dead is Irene Ramsey, a 44-year-old resident of Perth Village, Mahaicony. She was the sweeper/cleaner at the Mahaicony Secondary School. The injured have been identified as Winella Usher and Ruth Percival, both also of Perth Village, and Alanka Cummings, of Zeskendren, Mahaicony. Usher and Percival are teachers at the Mahaicony Secondary School, while Cummings, like Ramsey, is a sweeper/cleaner at the same school.
Stabroek News was told that the three survivors sustained broken bones and head injuries and that doctors have decided that two needed to be transferred to the Georgetown Hospital for follow up treatment. Up to press time last evening, they had not yet arrived at the city hospital.
The accident occurred at 7.16pm.
The four women had just left a thanksgiving service for a woman who operates the canteen at the school and they were struck as they were standing on the road waiting for a taxi to take them home.
Stabroek News was told that the car, which was travelling on the western side of the road, ran into them and also struck another car that was passing at the time.
This newspaper was told that the driver may have lost control of his vehicle after encountering a pothole. Instead of stopping to render assistance, he drove off. Persons reported to this newspaper that the man apparently drove to the hospital but left shortly after.
There were reports that the vehicle later crashed in another village but this could not be confirmed by Stabroek News. When this newspaper last checked with police officials, the driver had not yet been detained.
One of the persons who visited the scene said when she arrived persons were running to the location. She said that it would appear that persons did not really understand the gravity of the situation. As word spread of the accident, scores of the persons flocked the scene and before long there was a huge crowd.
She recalled that one of the women was bleeding from the nose and was clearly in a daze. Although persons were told not to move the injured, persons in a bid to help picked up the woman and placed her in a car. The others were also picked up and they were all rushed to the nearby Mahaicony Hospital.
The fatal accident is the latest in a spate over the past week, which was the first week of Road Safety month.
