A woman was instantly killed yesterday morning when her head was crushed by a sand truck, after she fell from a motorcycle on Lombard Street, in Georgetown.
Muneshwer’s Limited employee Savitri Chandra, 35, of Lot 38 Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was rushed for treatment.
Police said the accident occurred around 7:15 am, when Chandra, popularly known as ‘Mama,’ was the pillion rider on a motorcycle. She fell with the rider after he attempted to overtake truck, according to police. The handle of the motorcycle reportedly came into contact with the lorry and as a result they fell onto the roadway and Chandra was run over by the truck.
At Chandra’s home, her mother, Bibi Ali, known as ‘Nesha,’ said her daughter left home around 6:50 am on the motorcycle with a friend, Ravi (only name given), who would occasionally give her a ride to work.
“All wa she tell me is, ‘Look de line pon de road… de traffic.’ And she walk down and he pick she up. Duh mussee was the fastest way for her to go down,” the woman said.
Ali said that she received a phone call around 8 am from the police requesting that she visit the station but no other information was given. “When I go then they tell me she get accident. I didn’t suspect anything. Me say she got the BlackBerry phone and somebody mussee pick it from she,” the woman said.
At the station, she said, she got the opportunity to speak to the driver of the sand truck, who said he lives in Soesdyke. He was unable to say anything else, she said.
Ali further stated that she is uncertain of what exactly occurred but only knows that the motorcycle rider escaped with only minor bruises. “Me ain’t know if the truck knock the bike or what but they say she pitch from the bike,” she added.
The woman said she and her daughter lived alone and Chandra had been providing for her for some years now. “She is go to work and I does stay home… she does tek care of me. I don’t work anywhere. She don’t have any children or so, it’s just me and she,” she lamented.
Neighbours, who had gathered and helped in comforting the woman, described Chandra as a very nice person who never quarrelled with anyone.
“Meh pickney… she nah bad to nobody, wa mek this had to happen,” a tearful Ali questioned as persons offered their condolences.
Meanwhile, the truck driver and the motorcyclist are in police custody assisting with the investigations.
