Coconut vendor struck dead by speeding car

A coconut vendor is now dead after he was hit along the La Grange Public Road, West Bank Demerara (WBD) on Thursday night by a speeding car.

The dead man, Roopesh Ramotar, 46, of Lot 12 Houston, East Bank Demerara, was standing next to his car when he was struck around 10.40 pm.

The police, in a statement issued yesterday, said the driver of the car that hit Ramotar is currently in custody.

From preliminary investigations, the police said, the driver of the car, PTT 755, was proceeding north along the western side of the public road road at a fast rate and lost control and collided with Ramotar.

Roopesh Ramotar

Stabroek News was told that Ramotar, a father of one who sold coconuts at the Linden Bus Park, was picked up in an unconscious state and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“A breathalyzer test was conducted on the driver of PTT 755 and he was found to be above the legal limit in terms of blood alcohol level,” the police statement said.

When Stabroek News spoke with Ramotar’s wife Kavita Ramotar, she explained that the family only learned of the accident yesterday morning.

Her husband, she said, left home around 2pm on Thursday afternoon and never returned. She pointed out that during the course of the night, several calls were made to his phone but they all went unanswered.

The woman said that from her own investigation, she learned that Roopesh had ventured over the river to drop a friend home.