Less than one week after acting Top Cop David Ramnarine urged motorists to exercise caution when driving,
another two persons were on Friday evening killed and five others injured after a two-vehicle collision at Unity, East Coast Demerara.
Dead are businessman Kelvin Cort, 26, of Fyrish, Corentyne; and Jennifer Grant, 39, of Betsy Ground, East Canje, Berbice.
Those injured are Grant’s daughter Jamcey Grant, 18, a student of New Amsterdam Technical Institute; Petal Thom, 35; Fayola Thom, 38; and 16-year-old Mark Thom.
According to reports, Cort, who was driving a motorcar bearing registration plates PFF 6778, was heading to Berbice when a pick-up with registration number GMM 426, which was heading in the opposite direction, reportedly swerved into his path. As a result of the impact, the car reportedly toppled several times before coming to a halt. The occupants of the car were pulled from the wreckage by public spirited citizens and were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), where Cort and Grant succumbed while receiving medical attention. The others were admitted and are all in an unconscious state. Grant, a mother of four, was a custodial employee attached to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Guyana Times was told that Cort was hired to pick up his cousin, Petal Thom, two of her sisters and two of their children from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, as they were returning from vacation. According to Cort’s sister, Tanisha Cort, she received information about the accident and rushed to the GPHC.
She noted that when she arrived, she was told that her aunt had already passed and was allowed to remove her personal valuables. However, she was not allowed into the room where her brother was and later learnt of his demise. “It was too much for me to take to go and see him,” she said.
Grant’s mother, Ivy Thom, said she learnt of the fatal accident via a telephone call.
This newspaper was told that the now deceased Jennifer Grant was the eldest of five siblings and the sole breadwinner for the family, as her husband is unable to work after an accident. Her mother described her as quite person, while colleagues who were also present described her as a “hardworking” and “jovial” individual.
Meanwhile, Cort’s mother, Carol Cort, told Guyana Times that drivers who operate at night need to be more courteous and she called for “stiffer penalties” to be instituted against reckless road users.
According to the woman, many drivers do not dip their head lights at night in the presence of oncoming vehicles.
“I think the Police should look into things like this; they should have programmes to teach drivers how to conduct themselves… everybody now is in a hurry; they are boring, they are squeezing, and at the end of it, lives are lost; nobody reaching where they want to go. Because my son did not reach home and it is hard. The only thing I have received from him is his belt… When you look at it, they lock-up the people, charge them and when you look, the same people are back on the road doing the same thing and worst because they pay a little money and that is not right; money can’t give life,” the grieving mother said.
Cort leaves to mourn six siblings and parents while Grant leaves to mourn four children, a husband, parents and four siblings. Meanwhile, the Police in a release said the driver of the pickup is in Police custody assisting with investigations. (Andrew Carmichael)
