A 73-year-old housewife – a mother of one – is the latest road fatality after she was struck down on the Annandale Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD), early Saturday morning.
Dead is Miriam Johnson of Lot 8 Eastville Housing Scheme, ECD.
The accident occurred at about 06:00h on Saturday when motor car PRR 6925, driven by a 22-year-old fisherman, collided with her.
Dead: Mariam Johnson
Based on information received, the motor car was proceeding east along the northern side of Annandale Public Road, when it was alleged by the driver that while proceeding in the said direction he observed the pedestrian standing in the centre of the road.
He told Police as he approached the pedestrian, she ran north across the road into his path, causing the left side front of his vehicle to collide with her.
As a result of the collision, Johnson fell onto the road’s surface where she received injuries to her head and other parts of the body.
When <<<Guyana Times>>> visited the home of the dead woman on Saturday, her reputed husband, Sedrick Forde, said he was in a minibus heading home from work when he observed a crowd on the Annandale Public Road.
He said as he approached the corner, a woman from the community ran and held onto him and started crying.
“She said come and see where you wife deh. I ask she way me wife deh…when I go I see my wife lying down on the road dead. Me go and me hold on to my wife and I start shouting for ‘Mariam, Mariam’ but she was dead,” the grieving man said.
Forde said he knelt on the road and began crying since he could not believe that his wife’s life was snuffed out in just the blink of an eye. He said he became confused and went for a sheet with the help of the Police and covered the woman’s lifeless body.
“I assisted in lifting her and taking her to the hospital and that is when they pronounced her dead. We plan last night [Friday night] that she was going to cook for me today [Saturday] since I work security as a guard. She was going over at the market to buy the things so that we can cook. This man wrong my wife,” he said.
The woman’s husband said her death will take a toll on him since “she was a good woman”. He said they have been living together for the past seven years.
Following the accident, a notice of intended prosecution was served on the driver of the motor car, who submitted to an alcohol breath test. No trace of alcohol was detected. He remains in custody as the Police’s investigation continues. (LaWanda McAllister)
