An errand last evening to purchase electricity credit for his family’s prepaid meter ended tragically for a young motorcyclist who crashed into a moving car on Mandela Avenue where he died on the spot.
The driver of the car, a white Toyota Spacio bearing licence plates PTT4575, was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where up to press time he was being treated.
Dead is 22-year-old Shaquiel Browne of Lot 45 Norton Street, Lodge, Georgetown.
Eyewitnesses to the accident said that around 7:45pm Brown was proceeding North on Mandela Avenue on his motorcycle while the car was headed southward when Browne tried to overtake a vehicle and slammed into the driver’s side of the Spacio. He was flung into the air and landed head first on the road. The car driver lost control and crashed into the fence of the under-construction Chinese-owned mall and hotel. Police arrived at the scene promptly and an ambulance came afterwards. Browne was pronounced officially dead and his bike was later towed away.
Shaquiel Browne’s father, motorcycle dealer and mechanic Kurt Browne, told Stabroek News that the young man left home saying that he was going to purchase power for their prepaid meter. “He just left to go buy current. Why didn’t I go to buy the current myself?” he asked himself even as he spoke to reporters. “The devil is working,” he added.
The older Browne lamented that he received word via telephone that the eldest of his 11 children had met his demise in an accident aback of the Botanical Gardens and he rushed out to verify.
A visibly shaken Browne lamented that he had only purchased the said motorcycle two weeks ago and had constantly warned his son about the dangers of speeding.
Some of Browne’s friends also reflected on his life saying he was “a cool and happy person” who was kind and respectful to everyone. One pointed out that “Like he aint geh he luck at Christmas time” because last year Christmas Eve he was involved in another accident which took the life of a female and left him hospitalized.
Police are investigating.
