Guyana National Industrial Corporation (GNIC) said it was not at fault in the death of Trevor Charles or the injuries passengers sustained when a Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company transformer fell from one of its trucks onto a Route 43 minibus last Friday.
However, the company said, it had and would render assistance to the family of the deceased and the survivors of the unfortunate incident who are still hospitalized as a matter of courtesy since one of its vehicles was involved in the mishap.
This newspaper was unsuccessful in getting a comment from GPL after several attempts.
Charles’s relatives have said they are still searching for answers and are contemplating taking legal action against the owner of the truck and the persons who hired it.
From information receiv-ed, a GNIC low-bed truck was transporting two of GPL’s transformers to the Garden of Eden site, just before 3 pm on Friday, for another shipping company, when tragedy struck at Friendship, East Bank Demerara. As the truck came off a steep turn, the two transformers fell off. One rolled onto the roadway and into the thick bush on the parapet and the other hit the driver’s side of the minibus Charles was driving, before coming to rest a few feet away. The bus was headed to Georgetown from Linden.
Charles, a 41-year-old Craig, East Bank resident was pronounced dead on arrival at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre and several injured persons were transferred from there to the Georgetown Hospital.
The truck driver was arrested and taken to the Grove Police Station.
GNIC’S Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Clinton Williams and Human Resources Manager Alan Johnson told this newspaper that a shipment of GPL transformers arrived at the DSL (a subsidiary of Demerara Distillers Limited – DDL) Shipping Wharf, and were transported to Sophia.
Williams said that from his understanding, two of the transformers were left on the container truck and after hours of trying to get the vehicle moving, GNIC was called in to lend assistance.
He said his company was asked to provide a hauler truck, to transport the two transformers to Garden of Eden and “our people wanting to help sent one to assist”.
Williams said that according to the information he received two buses were trying to overtake each other on the Friendship road. He said the driver of his truck swerved to the left to avoid a head-on collision and because of the momentum the two transformers fell from the truck, one hitting the minibus in the process. He added that the other bus disappeared. He is of the opinion that had his driver not swerved there would have been a head-on collision and there might have been more casualties.
Williams said that as far as he knew the driver would have secured the transformers onto the truck. There had been earlier reports that they were not strapped to the truck and that was what caused them to fall off.
He informed this newspaper that the driver has since been released on station bail. “I believe that it was on the grounds that they are satisfied with his story,” Williams added.
Asked about help for the victims, Johnson said there was a family of four, including an elderly man, hospitalized and the company was been instrumental in offering assistance.
He said GNIC has since contacted the family of the deceased and conveyed its condolences and would give money to the funeral parlour to help with burial expenses.
Charles, who had been a bus driver for years, was laid to rest yesterday.
