Biker hits girl, 8, on pedestrian crossing

An eight-year-old girl was yesterday struck down by a motorcyclist on the pedestrian crossing, a few metres away from her school.

Tucville Primary School student Andrika Koker, of North East La Penitence, was crossing the road around 9:05am when she was hit by the speeding rider. The man is in police custody.

A close relative of Koker, who asked not to be named, told Stabroek News that after the accident, the child was picked up by a teacher, who took her to the Police Station, from where she was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital. An x-ray later showed that the girl’s pelvic bone was fractured. She also lost a tooth and suffered cuts about her body. The girl, who was admitted to the hospital’s Paediatric Ward, may have to undergo a CT scan to determine if she has head injuries.

The relative said Koker’s father, Lamos Edghill, would usually take her to school every morning. But after her father’s car encountered mechanical problems, the girl journeyed to school alone.

The girl’s relatives complained about the doctors at the hospital, saying that they were unwilling to give them any information about the child’s condition. They said that they were initially told that there was nothing wrong with her until a foreign doctor intervened and then they were informed of the injuries that she sustained.

Edghill said last evening that the family was still awaiting definite information on the girl’s condition from the doctor and noted that she was complaining of pains about her body.