Annai Village Councillor, Lennox George died yesterday morning after the minibus he was driving crashed into a tree in the vicinity of Bina Hill Junction.
At the time of the accident George was transporting a relative and her six-year-old son.
According a police report, the occupants of the bus were the 48-year-old deceased, Juliana Williams and her son, all of whom resided in Annai Village, North Rupununi.
At the time of the accident, George was driving minibus #BAB 4875 which belongs to the Annai Central Village Council and for which he is said to have been the designated driver.
Enquiries by the police revealed that about 3:45 am yesterday, George was proceeding west along the northern side of the public road at a fast rate when he drove into a pothole. As a result, he lost control of the bus and crashed into a nearby tree on the southern grass parapet.
The driver’s motionless body was removed from the bus and placed on the parapet by public-spirited citizens. Williams and her son were assisted out of the bus and escorted to the Annai Health Centre where they were seen by a doctor and admitted for observation.
Dr. Narash Torres who arrived at the scene of the accident later pronounced George dead.
The driver’s body is currently at the Lethem Regional Hospital Mortuary awaiting an autopsy.
Annai’s Toshao, Michael Williams, who is a cousin of the deceased, told Stabroek News that the family was still trying to come to grips with the man’s death.
“I had to go to Port Mourant to do an eye surgery so from there I went to Georgetown then to Lethem. Is Lethem I come home from yesterday (Saturday) and I see he (George) cause he lives on the opposite side of me and he said, ‘You come home’ and I said, ‘Yes’ and that was it. That’s the last time I spoke to him,” recalled Williams.
He added that he received the call about the accident around 4 am yesterday when a niece called to say that George was involved in an accident and might be dead. Shortly after, he received a second call informing him that his cousin had in fact died.
The toshao said that it has not yet been ascertained where it was that George was coming from when the accident occurred but he believes he was possibly returning from a wake house in Surama Village.
The young woman who was injured in the accident is Williams’ niece. Williams said that his niece and her son were discharged from the Annai Health Centre about 5pm yesterday. He noted that she suffered lacerations about her body and was recuperating at his home.
According to the toshao his cousin often worked the Lethem to Annai route with the bus and on Saturday had called to tell him that he hadn’t gotten any work as another driver had picked up his passengers before he could get to them.
Prior to being the driver for the Annai Central Village Council, George was said to have also been employed as a driver for the Guyana Police Force and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.
“He was always a jovial person and loved playing sports. He loved to play cricket, volleyball, football and would be playing dominoes every afternoon,” Williams remembered of George.
The deceased is survived by his three children. (Joanna Dhanraj)
