Teen dies after minibus crashes into sand heap along Corentyne roadway

– father says son left home for work

A teenager is now dead after a minibus he was allegedly driving turned turtle along the Borlam Public Road, Corentyne, on Sunday. Police claim that the teenager was the driver at the time of the crash, but reports suggest that someone else was behind the wheel.

The dead man has been identified as 19-year-old Marvin Ishmile of Betsy Ground, East Canje.
According to the Police, the accident occurred at about 18:50h and involved a minibus owned by Deonauth Moses called “Chinick”, a businessman of Betsy Ground Village.
The Police say Ishmile was the driver and that there was one other person in the vehicle at the time – 60-year-old Rai Badree, also of Betsy Ground.
However, Shalim Ishmile, the deceased’s father, confirmed that it was his son who was driving the minibus at the time of the accident, while adding that two other persons were in the vehicle – one being his son’s cousin and the other his uncle.
The Police stated the vehicle was proceeding west along the southern drive lane of the Borlam Public Road, allegedly at a fast rate of speed, when the driver lost control and collided with a heap of sand, thus causing the vehicle to topple several times before coming to a halt.
The Police said both the driver and the other occupant were taken out of the said vehicle by public-spirited citizens.
The driver was pulled from the wreckage in an unconscious state and rushed to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The other occupant was treated and later sent away.
Guyana Times was told that the teenager and several other persons were seen at the Number 63 Beach sporting. As the minibus made its way to Canje, there was reportedly loud music emanating from the vehicle.
The dead teen’s father could not confirm where his son was.
According to the 47-year-old father, his son worked with the businessman, who is also a relative. He said as far as he knows, they were constructing a road somewhere on the Corentyne and he thought that his son was at work.
“He left to go to work and a phone call came stating that he met with an accident. Then I left and went to the New Amsterdam Hospital and when I reached, he was dead; his head crushed up,” the father said.
Ishmile leaves to mourn his parents and two siblings. (Andrew Carmichael)