A senior citizen is now dead after he was crushed to death by a truck along the Enmore Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara (ECD), shortly after midday yesterday, as he was riding his bicycle.
The dead man has been identified as Francis Lopes, 79, of Lot 154 Seventh Street, Enmore North, ECD, who was a security guard.
The accident occurred around 12.35 pm.
A police source yesterday confirmed that the driver of the truck, a 37-year-old resident of Logwood, Enmore, was arrested and was assisting with the investigation.
The circumstances that led to the accident were not completely clear afterward.
However, Stabroek News was told by police that the driver of the truck, which carried licence plate GYY 532, alleged that he was proceeding west along the southern side of the road and eventually crossed to the northern side and exited in order to purchase a puri at a roadside stand.
The driver reportedly told the police that he subsequently re-entered the lorry and upon checking, he saw nothing approaching him. As a result, he said he drove off, at which point he felt fan impact from the rear of the vehicle. Upon stopping and checking, he saw the injured Lopes lying on the roadway.
When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday, residents recalled hearing a loud impact. Upon checking, they said they learnt of the accident.
The owner of the stall where the truck driver stopped did not want to be named but told Stabroek News that she would normally sit in her yard and come out as customers visited. However, she noted that when the driver visited, it was her son who attended to him.
“Me just sell the boy [the driver] and be time me walk go inside deh, me hear ‘Blam!’ When me come out, me see the truck and the man deh ground,” the woman’s son, who preferred not to be named, said. Another resident said he heard an impact but initially thought it was a truck tyre
“By time me go out fah see is wah, the man [driver] tell me he just run ova somebody,” the man said.
“The man head go off louder than a gunshot,” he added. Meanwhile, Vincent Lopes, the dead man’s brother, told Stabroek News that he learnt of the accident after a police officer contacted him using his brother’s phone.
“When the phone rang, his [Francis] name show up. I thought was he calling. So I answer. The person [the police rank] ask if I know this number. I seh, I know the name. I thought was meh brother calling me. I ask, ‘Who is this?’ She said she is the police and she is calling to find out, [that] this person just got into an accident, a truck hit him down and he died on the spot and she need somebody to come and identify the body,” Vincent recalled.
Vincent said it was a norm for his brother to call him every day. He said he last spoke to Francis on Thursday.
“So when the phone ring, I thought was him,” the teary eyed Vincent stated.
Francis rented an apartment at Enmore, where he lived alone.
