An early morning accident along the Philadelphia Public Road, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), yesterday left a teacher of the Guyana Islamic Institute dead and several students injured after the car they were travelling in collided with three cows before slamming into a parked container and a fence.
Dead is Raiaz Khan, 21, of Lot 13 Vergenoe-gen, EBE, while three of the four injured students have been identified as Ramzan Ayube, Areeb Ali and Ahad Amin. Ayube suffered injuries to his face, while Ali suffered a broken leg and is scheduled to undergo surgery.
This newspaper was unable to confirm the identity of the fourth student but he and Amin were treated and sent away.
Khan, who had been a teacher at the Guyana Islamic Institute at Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara for the past two years, was the driver of the vehicle, a Toyota Raum, at the time of the accident. He died on the spot, while the students were taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. However, due to the reported slow pace at which they were being attended to, they sought treatment at the privately-run Woodlands Hospital, where Ayube and Ali were admitted. They are listed as stable.
Stabroek News was told that Khan was proceeding west along the Philadelphia Public Road around 2.30 am yesterday when he collided with the cows, which were sitting along the road. After hitting the cows, Khan reportedly lost control of the car and then slammed into a parked container and then a fence.
At the time of the accident, Khan had just picked up the students from Zeeburg and they were heading to the Parika Stelling, where they were scheduled to board a ferry to Essequibo.
Several efforts made to contact the police for a comment were unsuccessful.
On its Facebook page, the Guyana Islamic Trust yesterday expressed condolences to Khan’s family on his death.
Wazir Khan, the dead man’s father, told Stabroek News that he learnt of the accident after receiving a call from a member of his masjid. He said he immediately left for the scene and upon arriving he saw the bodies of his son and the students on the roadway. “He (Raiaz) did done dead, so I pick up the other boys and put them in my vehicle and take them to the hospital,” he explained.
The man was unaware of why Raiaz was visiting Essequibo. “Last night (Friday night) he just tell me that he will be going to Essequibo 3 0’clock in the morning…he left and he didn’t wake we up is till when the landline ring. His mother thought was his friends calling and she said he musse sleep away, so she went to his room to check on he and she said he’s not there,” he explained.
Shortly after this, Wazir related that he received a call on his cell phone about the accident.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Khan, whose fence Raiaz crashed into, related that he was awakened by the sound of a loud impact. The man said that he looked outside and saw the badly mangled vehicle that had crashed into his fence.
As a result, he said he immediately rushed to their assistance and with the help of neighbours, they managed to remove Khan and the students from the vehicle.
Khan is survived by his parents and three siblings. He was described as a very quiet but jovial individual. (Sharda Bacchus)
