Latest update December 8th, 2024 4:55 AM
Oct 30, 2010 News
– 5 injured
Twelve people, including a two-month-old baby, died yesterday afternoon in one of the worst accidents the Corentyne Highway has ever seen. According to reports, shortly before 16:00hrs minibus BHH 1842 carrying 17 people collided with a truck, GLL 8863.
Those identified among the dead were the minibus driver Odit Narine Babulall, 33, of Number 48 Village, Corentyne; Selma Razack, 23, of 104 Main Street, Cumberland, East Canje; Orlando De Mattos, 35, of Kildonan, Corentyne; Salima Juman, 40, of Burn Bush, East Canje; Marquest Ault, 14, of Rose Hall Town; Talita Mendonca, 21, of Kildonan Village; her infant son, Joseph Khan; Cindy Jaggernauth, 37, of Nigg Settlement, Corentyne; of Kildonan, Janet Baker, 42, of Number 19 Village, Corentyne, and Patricia Asgarally, 28, of Albion.
Fiona Paramsook, 14, who sustained a fractured thigh-bone, was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, while Tamika Fraser, 24; Sham Jaggernauth, 40; Aswanti Singh, 32; and Nicola Ross, 18, are patients at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Singh, the wife of Babulall the bus driver, was said to be the conductress at the time of the accident. Jaggernauth, another of the survivors, lost his wife, Cindy, in the accident.
Minister of Transport Robeson Benn, who happened to be on the scene in Corentyne, said that “high speed” must have been involved as one side of the bus was ripped to shreds.
He said the mangled remains of the bus were placed in the back of the truck as Police and other officials tried to clean up the site.
Benn said that debris was strewn about the road, as were the personal effects of those who were in the bus.
Numerous versions of the events leading up to the accident have filtered down. One suggested that the truck suffered a blowout and swerved into the path of the minibus. While another version was that the minibus slammed into the truck. The common element to all the stories being that the minibus which was legally overloaded at the time was speeding.
According to persons in Berbice however, the widely accepted version of events was that the minibus overtook another vehicle while heading in the direction of New Amsterdam.
In doing so, the minibus driver ended up in the lane of the truck which was heading to Corentyne. The two vehicles smashed into each other head on and through the force of the impact the truck ripped away the right side of the minibus. The bus then rolled several times before ending up in a canal adjacent to the road.
According to persons on the scene many of the passengers were thrown out of the tumbling wreck as it rolled to a stop.
The scene of the accident was a gory mess with body parts strewn about inside the twisted metal that was all that remained of the bus and all over the road.
Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that some of the passengers were decapitated.
People pulled bodies from the canal and at one stage the sight of bodies lining the roadway was too much for some spectators to take.
Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who raced to Berbice when he heard news of the accident, confirmed that 12 persons were killed while four others were hospitalized at the New Amsterdam Hospital. He said those in the New Amsterdam Hospital had injuries that were mainly cuts and bruises.
He commended the New Amsterdam Hospital for its handling of the situation. He said there was some confusion in the identification of the bodies given the large number of persons who turned up at the hospital, but eventually, the situation was normalized.
The driver of the motor lorry who suffered only minor injuries apparently fled the scene. He was however apprehended by the police and along with the two porters from the lorry is currently assisting the police with their investigations.
Dec 08, 2024
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