A two-vehicle collision on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) Highway on Friday evening has left over 12 persons injured, with at least one person in a critical state. The accident occurred sometime around 22:30h at Brickery, EBD.
According to reports, a motorcar bearing registration number PJJ 8932 was travelling North along the East Bank highway while a Route 42 minibus with registration number BSS 6024 was heading in the southern direction when they collided.
Based on information received, as the vehicles were negotiating the turn, the car collided head-on with the minibus. The impact of the collision caused the car’s entire front to become smashed.
The scene of the accident on Friday night at the Brickery Public Road
It is unclear whether any passenger was in the car with the driver; however the minibus had a full load of passengers as it was coming from Georgetown. Persons from the area and passersby wasted no time in rendering assistance, helping the occupants out of the vehicles.
Some of the passengers in the minibus sustained cuts and bruises while others complained about being in pain as a result of the impact. The injured persons were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where they were treated and sent away.
However, the driver of the motorcar was admitted after he was taken to the medial facility in critical condition, hospital sources confirmed. He sustained severe head injuries and as a result, had to undergo a CT scan. A nurse who was in the minibus at the time of the accident also sustained serious injuries but was discharged on Saturday after being kept overnight for observation.
Meanwhile, at the scene, the driver of the minibus recalled seeing the car approaching at a fast rate. “I was coming around the turn and I see the car sliding coming… I pull to the corner and still he come and hit my bus,” the traumatised man recounted.
The car driver remains hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he is said to be stable but still in a critical state.
This is the second accident to occur on the East Bank road with the space of a week, with the first happening a short distance away from Friday’s accident. Last Sunday, 23-year-old Rudolph Bess, of Kaneville, EBD and 16-year-old Hansranie Persaud, of Grove, EBD, lost their lives in a horrific three vehicle smash-up at Coverden, EBD.
Two persons, Yolanda Fraser Patterson and Jason Baskarran, were also injured in the accident. Reports revealed that Bess and Persaud were travelling on a motorcycle when the accident occurred between a 4×4 driven by Baskarran and a motorcar driven by Fraser Patterson on the Coverden Public Road.
That accident has brought the country’s road fatalities up to 39 for the year. Acting Traffic Chief Budnarine Persaud recently disclosed that these 39 deaths were from 38 accidents during the period January to April. This is in comparison to 31 deaths from 22 accidents during the same period last year.
