-woman in critical state

By Shabna Rahman

A 26-year-old motorcyclist and his three-month-old baby died yesterday after he slammed head-on into a truck at Orangestein, East Bank Essequibo, while his wife is nursing severe injuries at the De Kinderen Hospital.

Reports are that around 11 am, Krishna ‘Mark’ Persaud of Meten-Meer-Zorg, East Bank Essequibo and his wife, Deanna Persaud, 18, and their baby, Lucas, were heading to Parika when he collided with the truck in front of Blue Sky Shopping Mall (supermarket). 

The truck, GZZ 5068, belonging to Tropical Orchard Products Com-pany Limited (TOPCO), had just delivered items to the supermarket and was making a U-turn when tragedy struck. 

According to CCTV footage from the supermarket that was shown to Stabroek News, the front of the truck was already on the right side of the road when the motorcycle, going at a fast rate, went on that same side and crashed into it.

Persaud, his wife and the baby were flung off the motorcycle and it appeared as though the father and baby died on the spot, while Deanna was seen writhing in pain. 

Persaud had lost a leg from a previous motorcycle accident last year and was wearing a prosthesis. 

His father, Vishnu, who resides in front of his house in the same yard, said they left home around 9 am. 

Persaud, a stray catcher at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate, was supposed to leave home at 10 am to go to work.

Vishnu told this newspaper that a young man from the village came to his house around 11:30 am and informed him that his son had been  involved in an accident and that he and the baby were dead.

He immediately phoned his daughter who resides nearby and she and his wife, Gaitri, hurried to the scene.

His son and the baby were still lying on the road but his daughter-in-law had  already been taken to the De Kinderen hospital, where she underwent surgery.

Shortly after, undertakers from the Ezekiel funeral home arrived and picked up the bodies. Vishnu said they visited Deanna in the emergency room and noticed that she had what looked like a brace on her neck. She appeared to be in an unconscious state.

The man said that he recovered both phones and other items belonging to his son and Deanna, from the scene, but that a gold chain was missing from her neck.

The couple also has a two-year old son, Marcus and when this newspaper visited, he was sleeping in the hammock with his grandfather. Vishnu said the toddler spends most of his time with him and his wife.

Meanwhile, a release from TOPCO confirmed that the truck involved in the accident belongs to them. “We are deeply saddened to learn that the incident has resulted in the tragic loss of life, including that of a father and a child. We also understand that the mother is in critical condition” the release said.

The management and staff of TOPCO also extended “heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones affected by this devastating tragedy. TOPCO is cooperating fully with the Guyana Police Force and the relevant authorities as they conduct their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident.” 

It said too that, “Out of respect for the grieving family and the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we will refrain from further comment until more information becomes available.”

The police in their statement yesterday said that enquiries revealed that the motor lorry was proceeding north out of a parking lot of the shopping mall, situated on the southern parapet, when another motor lorry proceeding west along the southern side of the said road stopped and allowed the driver of motor lorry GZZ 5068 to turn and proceed east. In the process of doing so, the motorcycle, which was proceeding west along the southern side of the said road at an alleged fast rate of speed, overtook the stationary motor lorry on the solid double yellow lines, ended up on the northern side of the road and collided with the right-side front portion of GZZ 5068.

The truck was driven by a 27-year-old male of Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara. A breathalyser test was conducted on the driver and no trace of alcohol was detected, the police said.