Two young men, who were close friends and lived alongside each other at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD), died after the motorcycle they were riding crashed into a Jeep at the intersection of the Ogle Access Road and the ECD Highway on Saturday night.
Dead are Rameshwar Singh, 18, and Jason Harris, 20. Relatives and friends gathered yesterday afternoon at the Lots 6 and 7 Section ‘B’, Cummings Lodge homes where the close friends lived with their families. People slowly filtered in throughout the afternoon, offering their condolences and support to the two families.
According to the police, Harris was riding his motorcycle, CJ 6360, along with Singh who was the pillion rider at around 11:20pm on Saturday, when the crash occurred. At the time, the two men were traveling west along the ECD highway, approaching the intersection at the Ogle Access Road. A Jeep, PGG 8844, which was being driven by a 20-year-old resident of Campbellville, was traveling east along the northern carriageway of the highway.
Police said that upon reaching the intersection, the Jeep turned right onto the Ogle Access Road, and in the process of turning, the motorcycle collided with the front of the Jeep. The impact sent Harris and Singh hurtling off the bike and onto the roadway. They sustained several injuries about their bodies and were unconscious.
The duo was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where both of them succumbed early yesterday morning. The driver was arrested and a breathalyser test done which indicated that he did not have any alcohol on his breath. He is currently in custody assisting with the police investigation.
While the families were not privy to the details of the accident, Harris’ and Singh’s mothers related that the youths, who have been close friends for most of their life, left sometime after 11pm to purchase food and at the time of the accident, might have been returning home based on the direction they were headed.
“I get to understand that they were going to the (Ogle) gas station (for food). After a while, I didn’t see my son come home and I try calling him on his phone but it was turned off. So I tried calling the other boy’s (Harris) phone and that was turned off too. I get up whole night and I even tried to call all the (police) stations to see if it was just they de riding and (they got) arrested,” Singh’s mother, Shirley (only name given), related to Stabroek News.
Barely able to contain her emotions, the woman explained that she searched almost everywhere from the time she noticed that her son had not returned home, but could not find him. Eventually, she was advised to call the hospital, but even after doing so, did not get any feedback that could have helped locate her son and his friend.
“I wasn’t even thinking to check the hospital and even when I checked, I wasn’t even thinking about the possibility that they could’ve been in an accident,” Shirley related. It wasn’t until after 8am yesterday that her worst fears were confirmed.
According to the woman, a police officer visited her home and confirmed that Singh had passed away following the accident along with his friend.
Harris’ mother, Evon Moses-Harris, also related to this newspaper that she did not find out about the accident until several hours after, when the police ranks brought the news.
Friends, neighbours and other relatives were all working together yesterday, preparing the two yards for the wake. Amid the sounds of hammers hitting nails and electrical saws cutting wood, a sombre tone pervaded both houses which are separated by a short fence. (Dhanash Ramroop)
