Police have detained a man in connection with the deaths of two Kamarang girls after a tree fell on them on Thursday in the Region Seven village.
The man is assisting with investigations and ‘F’ Division police commander Ravindradat Budhram told Stabroek News that they would need to send the file for legal advice to determine if any charge should be laid. He highlighted that because it was not an intentional act, the police would need advice from their legal advisor.
Kamarang Toshao Norma Thomas told Stabroek News yesterday that the man was cutting down the tree for lumber for the village guest house when it fell on the two sisters who have been identified as Sylva Thomas, 16, and Kerryana Williams, 3. Police sources said that the incident occurred between 3 and 4pm on Thursday.
The deaths of the girls have sent shockwaves through the community. Stabroek News was told that the relatives of the girls are still trying to come to grips with the tragedy and have been unable to speak with the police due to the shock and trauma suffered.
Thomas told Stabroek News that the sisters were returning home from the farm with their family when the incident occurred. She said that the girls’ two male siblings had passed the man cutting down the tree and they were trailing behind, but a short distance in front of their parents. She said that Sylva was fetching her little sister on her back when tragedy struck.
This newspaper was told that the 16-year-old died on the spot while Kerryana died soon after, after calling for her mother. Their parents rushed to the spot after they heard the tree fall. “They heard she called ‘mama’ and fed her some water and she was pronounced dead at the health centre,” Thomas related.
She said that the lumber would have been used for the community guest house which is being prepared to host teams for the annual Upper Mazaruni football tournament.
