A Cambio businessman succumbed to his injuries yesterday morning after the vehicle he was driving crashed into the cadaver of a cow along the New Diamond Access Road, on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD); his wife suffered injuries.
The deceased man, who was attached to L. Mahabeer & Sons Cambio, has been identified as 43-year-old Vishraykanand Narayan also called ‘Vish’ of Lot 8 Downer Street, Golden Grove, EBD. The accident occurred on Sunday morning at 00:30hrs. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) in a release yesterday said that Narayan was at the time driving his motorcar PGG 9779 south along the eastern side of the New Diamond Access Road, EBD, when he crashed into the carcass which was lying on the same side of the roadway. He reportedly lost control of his vehicle which toppled several times and collided with a concrete culvert along the road causing him and his wife, Geeta Sammy to suffer injuries.
Police said the couple was eventually picked up in a conscious state by public-spirited citizens, placed in an ambulance and taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre (DDC) where they were both examined. While at the DDC, Sammy was treated for minor abrasions about her body and sent away, while Narayan was admitted with a fractured shoulder and pelvis. He was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where he was further examined. Narayan was later admitted as a patient in the Male Surgical Ward where he succumbed to his injuries at about 6:55 am. His body is at the GPH Mortuary currently awaiting a post-mortem examination.
Stabroek News yesterday visited the man’s family and his younger brother, Keshav Narayan, related that his brother was at the time heading home after an outing with his wife when he got into the accident.
“He went out with his wife and when he was coming home, he was coming out from the New Access Road aback of Diamond, from Mocha to Diamond, it was raining heavily and there were three dead cows on the road and one was almost in the path…like it take up actually a whole lane, so he try to circle it and when he swerve he vehicle topple over.” Narayan further said that his sister-in-law managed to seek help from a passerby – “somebody was passing and his wife hustle to come out the vehicle and she asked for a phone call and then she called my wife.”
Narayan contended that his brother’s life could have been saved if it was not for the laid-back attitude of some of the workers at the DDC. “They took him for medical attention at the Diamond Hospital and they were very sloppy, when my brother was ready to be transported to Georgetown, there was no driver for the ambulance for over two and a half hours, then when he was going he was getting worse.”
He added “And then when they start operating on him he start suffering from internal bleeding…if more was done at Diamond and they moved in a more timely manner he could’ve still been alive,” said the man’s brother.
The family of the deceased also expressed their dissatisfaction regarding the presence of the dead animals which had reportedly been there since last Friday. The dead man’s brother also noted that stray animals have been the primary cause of death along the said road.
“This is like the third fatal accident that was caused by these stray animals on the road so far, and nobody is doing anything about it,” said the man. An uncle of the deceased then interjected and said that the dead cows were on the road since last Friday. “The animals died since Friday, today is Monday, somebody died and they still ain’t move it,” said the man. When this newspaper yesterday visited the scene of the accident, the three cadavers had not yet been removed. One could be seen partially on the road, while the other two were some distance on the grass parapet.
Removal of the carcasses would have been a responsibility of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council in the area. (Aviso Paul)
