Minibus driver Kevon Moore was yesterday remanded to prison after he was charged with causing the deaths of Shonica Edwards and Anthony Persaud during an accident at Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Sunday.
Moore, 23 of Five Door Koker Dam, Land of Canaan, EBD, appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court, where he was also charged with several other offences.
This newspaper was told that he was remanded to prison until August 9th, 2021.
According to the police, at the time of the accident minibus BXX 7256, driven by Moore, was proceeding south along the eastern carriageway of the Diamond road at a fast rate. He lost control of the vehicle, which turned turtle several times and came to a stopped facing the south-eastern direction. As a result, Persaud and Edwards suffered fatal injuries.
A survivor of the accident yesterday said that two heavily-tinted cars, one blue and the other brown, were racing in a lane alongside the bus.
Edgar Dublin, 17, of Koker Dam, Land of Canaan, told Stabroek News that a group of friends were in the bus on their way home when the accident occurred.
The recovering teen shared that they were in the eastern carriageway heading to Land of Canaan when the blue car turned into their lane in front of the minibus in order to avoid a collision with a vehicle in front of him.
Dublin revealed that while the driver of the blue car was successful in the evasive measure, the brown car behind also attempted to pull into the lane to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of him but ended up colliding with the back of the minibus.
Dublin said as a result of the collision a back wheel on the minibus blew out, causing the bus to skate before it began toppling.
The teen disclosed that all the passengers were flung out of the bus with the exception of him.
Dublin was transported in an ambulance to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was treated for back, head and shoulder injuries and discharged on Monday.
He remains at home recovering from his injuries.
Dublin, who stated that the minibus he was in was speeding, denied that it was participating in the race.
In a video shared on social media and seen by this newspaper, a passenger of the bus at the scene of the accident kept repeating “I tell he to slow down”.
Meanwhile, another teen, Michael James, who suffered injuries to his head and neck, among other parts of his body in the accident, has regained consciousness but remains hospitalised. He was previously listed as critical.
Johnny Persaud, who was also hospitalized in critical condition with head injuries and bruising of his chest, according to relatives, is responding but is unable to open his eyes. He remains in the Intensive Care Unit.
Several others were injured in the accident.
