Teen killed in Corentyne hit-and-run accident

By Andrew Carmichael

A 19-year-old teenager was on Sunday evening struck down and killed while crossing the Corentyne Highway, reportedly by a car that sped away.
The dead teenager has been identified as Trishan Sahai, also called ‘Star,’ of Number 57 Village Corentyne. He and his 28-year-old friend Mooneshwar Jairam, also called ‘Bodo,’ were said to have been crossing the road when the accident occurred.

According to the Police, a motorcar with an unknown registration plate was proceeding along the Corentyne Highway at a fast rate of speed, and struck down Sahai and Jairam who were walking across the Highway in the vicinity of Number Naught Village. Sahai was reportedly pitched about 30 feet, while Jairam landed on top of a motor car that was parked at the time, breaking the windscreen and rear view mirror in the process.
The speeding car did not stop to render assistance to the injured, but both men were taken to the Skeldon Hospital, where Sahai was pronounced dead while Jairam was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital in serious condition.
Others drivers had reportedly tried to chase down the speeding vehicle, but were unsuccessful in locating it. Even as efforts were being made to contact the police, a police patrol vehicle pulled up in front of the bar where persons had started to gather.
Roadblocks were set up at the Number 51 Police Station and at Whim, where another police station is situated, but the car was not seen.
The dead man’s stepfather, Haroon Hamid, said Sahai told his mother he was going to a wake. However, moments before the accident, he and his friend Jairam were seen in a bar consuming beers. Hamid said the reports of him being killed were confirmed when the body was seen at the mortuary.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the vehicle that hit the men was a white Allion motorcar.
Following the incident, Police were able to find fragments of the registration plate, but up to press time, have not been able to trace the car or ascertain who was the driver.
Hamid says the driver might have been at the Number 63 Beach, and was on his way home when the accident occurred. He is calling on authorities to ensure justice is served.
Meanwhile, as the Police continue to hunt for the driver, Sahai leaves to mourn a mother and a sister.
On August 10, a Corentyne pensioner was killed after being hit by an unlit car, which also fled the scene. Andre Buchhan, called ‘Nalvan Buchhan’, 68, of Lot 51 Block 4 Tain, Corentyne, was at the time crossing the road when the accident occurred.
Police are still looking for the driver and car in that accident.