An accident on the Corentyne Highway early yesterday morning has taken the life of a 37-year-old minibus driver, who was the sole occupant of his vehicle at the time.
Dead is Romain Drepaul of Lot 7 Section ‘A’ Lancaster Village, Corentyne.
Stabroek News understands that Drepaul was driving minibus BHH 3711 along the Corentyne Highway at Bush Lot. Reports are that the bus hit a donkey that was on the highway, ran off the road, and smashed into the rear of a parked truck belonging to the Guyana Power and Light Inc.
Romain Drepaul
People from the area heard the impact and ran to Drepaul’s aid, but could do nothing as he was tightly pinned behind the steering wheel. It took a tractor along with the assistance of residents of the community and police officers from Whim Police Station to rip out the driver’s side of the vehicle along with the steering wheel to free the trapped man.
According to Raffina Ali, Drepaul’s sister-in-law, the man had left home earlier that night to visit relatives. He would have been on his way back home when the accident occurred.
The police said in a press release that the accident occurred at 12.30 am yesterday.
In the wee hours of yesterday, she said, a minibus driver, who they knew, went and told them that Drepaul had been in an accident and that they should go quickly because it was serious.
When they got there, Drepaul was still pinned by the steering wheel and people were still making futile manual efforts to extricate him.
The sister-in-law said, “Me see meh brother-in-law hand hang outside de window and he head turn to one side, and he look unconscious. We had to tek one tractor and pull out ah front side and steering wheel to free he foot.“
The woman said Drepaul had been a careful driver and had never been involved in an accident before.
Relatives told Stabroek News that apart from a small wound on the left side of his forehead, which was bleeding Drepaul appeared to be unscathed by the accident. However, he was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where he was
pronounced dead a few minutes later.
When Stabroek News visited the man’s home yesterday morning a number of mourners, most of whom were schoolmates and teachers of Drepaul’s nine-year-old son Renaldo, had gathered.
His oldest daughter, 13-year-old Farzana, tearfully related that the last time she saw her father was around 7.30 pm on Sunday. He had taken her along with her brother and little sister to the horse races earlier in the day. Shortly after they returned home, she said, his brother called from Number 43 Village and asked to see him.
According to Farzana, her dad told her mom “ah goin and ah coming back jus now”, but he never returned.
Drepaul’s youngest daughter Serena, was jovial like any other four-year-old and seemingly oblivious of what had occurred. The man’s wife, Shereen Ali was at the hospital when this newspaper visited.
Relatives said two things were responsible for the accident; the stray animals on the road and the truck parked on the shoulder of the road. “If dem things nah been deh, Romain would still been alive today,” a relative said.
Drepaul leaves to mourn his wife Shereen Ali and three children, along with relatives and friends.
Meanwhile, the minibus and truck are at the Whim police station and police are continuing their investigations.
well sad to hear this my prayers are with the family,people who live in the country know that these animals roam the street at nite and as so suppose to look for them,the park truck thats was on the street is a nurm, so driver please be a little more careful at nites and save lives.
We have had a policy to rid the roadways of these animals, but nothing has been done. It is sad that someone had to die because of failed action. Now I hope the laws would be enforced. The animals need to be off the road. If people can’t take care of their animals, they should be impounded and the owners fined. It is dangerous navigating the Corentyne road at nights. I’ve had to dogde several animals while driving to GT.
Mack, there are laws in Guyana to deal with stray animals as well as branding but they are observed in the breach. The laws as I recall, make it mandatory for branding of cattle, pig, ass, etc. but many farmers fail to have a brand and consequently the police department has no up to date record. This, I think came about because of the failure of the regulatory authority to do their job. I can still remember my dad’s brand number and how he recalled that it was made by a black smith. This was however, was during the time that Guyana was a colony. Have you ever seen cattle being branded at the holding area of abattoirs? Well, this is a known fact because the police have to confirm ownership of the animal before it is slaughtered for food. Owners of stray animals (cattle, ass, etc.) can be charged for “suffering animal to stray”. Parked vehicles on the highway constitute encumbrances (obstructions) and there are laws to deal with that but its application is selective. The regulatory authorities as well as the communities must demonstrate a positive attitude to make the roads a safer place for its users. My heart felt to the family, relatives and friends of the late Romain Drepaul. May his soul rest in piece.
What about the parked trucks?
Mack, don’t we have dodge Deer and Moose in North America too.
Stray animals are creating lots of discomfort on the road.Maybe a little speeding was involved here too.I hope no alcohol was involved here.
Blood analysis would be able to confirm if he was legally drunk at the time of the accident. May the unfortunate Romain Drepaul Rest In Eternal Peace.
What happened to the poor donkey? Maybe someone has also lost a source of livelihood.
So sad, my condolences goes out to the family, get these animals off the streets, the owners should be jailed or fined when death is caused by the animals on the roadways of guyana.
i stongly agree that farmers should be held accountable for their animals. this is such a sad situation that could have been avoided, now children will grow up fatherless because of the inabliliy of the government…so sad.
The country needs emergency and roadside assistance equipment. He was pinned too long behind the wheel. This is so sad.
This is very sad.Do not want to say much about the donkey,who we used to call,”King of the Road”.There is a feeling that speeding could have been partly responsible,taking the circumstances,mentioned in the S.N.report.R.I.P.
My deepest condolences to his family. He had to be travelling at a fast rate of speed for people to hear the impact.
My condolences to the family.
people in Guyana had been putting up with this for donkey years now so deal with it….dont blame de poor donkey for his driving habits…speeding will kill you sooner or later..buying your drivers lic will kill you sooner or later..this is noting new here…speed thrills and kills at midnight when the coast is clear..only we speedsters on the road..leh we test how fast dis baby can go..i know it..i done it many times…only when de coast is clear at that time..we could care less for stray animals or parked vehicles…
Evil, you seem to be making a lot of assumptioms. If you drive the road that this accident happened, you may understand. You don’t have to speed to not see the anomals on the road. The fact that people had been putting up with this lawlessness, don’t make it right. The owners need to take responsible. The Region 6 PPP administrator need to apply the laws which were passed last year.
Mack
I know what Im talking about..I also know what you talking about..I drive deh fuh 7 long years when it was woss…big heavy trucks man laden with steel fuh sugar estate..then on weekends I would go there at nights and let de de toyata go bud…what a high i used to get…mo animals and mo broken down vehicles there back in the 70s…..ehehehehe
Oh
Mack…I dont see how PPP get into this for bad drivers..speeding drivers…drunk drivers..drivers who bought their license…drivers who cant steer..tell me how PPP get into this…laws are already there bro…dont forget that…
lawd………….. them dankey owner need to pay for that