1 dead, 2 injured in Rupert Craig Highway smash-up

By Rupa Seenaraine

Confusion, distress and a mistaken identity surrounded a fatal accident on Thursday afternoon, after a pedal cyclist was killed by an overtaking pickup along the Rupert Craig Highway, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The dead man was eventually identified as 40-year-old Navindra Doray of Lot 101 Block ‘S’ Sophia, Georgetown.
According to reports received, the accident occurred at about 13:15h in the vicinity of Yokohama Trading and involved a Tacoma pickup, bearing registration number GTT 8153 which was driven by a 25-year-old Trinidadian national of Oronoque Street, Queenstown.
Initial reports from the Police indicate that Doray was travelling on his bicycle as the vehicle was driving at a fast rate; they were both going in the same direction.
However, the pickup attempted to overtake several vehicles on the inside, and in so doing, collided with the pedal cyclist.

Upon impact, Doray was flung in the middle of the roadway. The vehicle then slammed into Yokohama fence and flipped several times in the air before landing on the right side in the middle of the roadway.
The occupants, 31-year-old Bradley Farley and 25-year-old Kareen Mc Fee, were picked up and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where they were treated and admitted for bodily injuries.
When Guyana Times arrived at the scene, commuters and onlookers gathered in their numbers to view the wreckage and the dead man’s body lying on the roadway. The body was picked up and taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Home to await a post mortem.
Rohan Persaud, an eyewitness who was driving his minibus at the time of the accident, explained that the pickup overtook his vehicle and slammed into the pedal cyclist. He recalled being scared for his life and immediately initiating the brakes.
“From UG Road, I see he was trying to pass some vehicle…I see he undertake me and hit the boy down. The boy skate on the road. When I do observe, the vehicle pitch into the wall and then turn. I slow down. Next thing I see, the vehicle spinning, spinning going,” Persaud explained.
The visibly shaken man noted that he left the scene thinking that he could have been caught in the smash-up. He indicated that a woman and her child were also on the roadway, and his attempts were to save them.
“The speed that I took off with, I never drive so fast in my life. If he had only connected with me, then the lady and her son would’ve get hit.”

Mistaken identity
Meanwhile, in a case of mistaken identity, the now dead man was initially identified as a 43-year-old man of North Sophia, Georgetown. His relatives, including his mother, sister, brother and nephews, showed up at the scene and confirmed his identity.
They were inconsolable after being convinced that it was their relative. However, Police later indicated that it was the wrong person. Investigation into the fatal accident continues.