Pastor’s wife killed by loose truck wheel

A woman is now dead after she was struck by a loose rear wheel of a lorry on the Corentyne Highway, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at Alness as a Pastor and his wife were on their way to church. Dead is 65-year-old Donna Punch, a housewife of Alness Village and one of the leaders of New Jerusalem Church of Alness. The incident occurred as Punch and her husband were about to get into a car. Pastor Leroy Punch told this publication that he and his wife were normally the first to attend church. However, on Sunday, he was a bit late, and a member who was ahead of him called his phone, but at that time, he was already on the street, making his way to the public road to get a car to take him to church. The pastor said it was the member who stopped the car, and a passenger had just gotten out of the car when the incident occurred.

“So we hurrying up now to get in the car, and the next thing you know, I hear this big truck coming. So I take a look at the truck and I see it coming. Something say, look again. And when I look again, I see this big wheel coming. Me right there, and my wife is next to me. I see this big wheel coming. She didn’t see it because she was taking her umbrella down to get in the car. By the time this wheel roll and come to the edge of the road and bounce, the thing coming straight to me and I barely duck out. And this thing jump over me…” Pastor Punch said when he looked around, he saw his wife rolling away.

Reports are that it was one of the rear wheels of a ten-wheeler truck.
The Pastor believes that there was not sufficient emphasis placed on maintenance of the lorry, as the driver explained to him that the lug nuts could have slackened, causing the wheel to go loose. The incident occurred just before a turn on the road. As a result, when the wheel cut loose and kept rolling straight, the turn on the road meant that the rolling wheel went straight on to the other side of the road, where the Pastor and his wife were about to get into the car.
The matter is said to be under police investigation.