A speeding mini-bus yesterday plunged into a canal at Harlem, West Coast Demerara when its right rear wheel flew off, leaving one passenger seriously hurt and several others nursing injuries.
Residents upon hearing the noise rushed from their homes and helped to pull some of the passengers out of the bus. A number of persons were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where they were treated and sent away.
However, Jennifer Francine Lewis, 19, of 28 Half Mile, Linden and the driver of the bus were admitted to the institution. Lewis was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
One of the passengers in the bus, Canadian citizen Phillip Jessamy told Stabroek News that the accident happened a few minutes after 2 pm and the bus was speeding. He was travelling to Georgetown to confirm his flight back to Canada. He said all he heard was a loud noise and the bus veered across the road and as the driver fought for control, the vehicle flipped over twice and ended up in the trench. The shaken man, who had arrived in the country last Friday for his first visit in 12 years, managed to escape and he helped to pull 78-year-old Edward Joseph Samuels out of the bus. During the time that he was in the canal, he said, he swallowed a lot of muddy water. He managed to escape with only a few bruises and declared that something needs to be done about speeding drivers. “He was driving very, very fast,” he stated. The man who was clearly in shock constantly kept praising God for sparing his life saying “Thank God, thank God. I thank God for life.”
His sister Roslynn Jessamy who resides in Barbados had to be pulled out of the bus after she was pinned down by a seat. She sustained a few injuries while their niece Jennifer Francine Lewis suffered a severe gash to her forehead, a broken right leg, a fractured left leg and various lacerations about her body. She was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Winston Anderson, a miner from Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara who was returning home from visiting his family in Essequibo also said that the bus was speeding. “Me ain’t know if this man hurry to reach town or what,” he declared. He escaped with a few bruises and said it was lucky that there wasn’t another vehicle close by or else the accident may have been tragic. Meantime 23-year-old Carol Braithwaite from Kabakaburi and her 4-month-old baby Wayne Norton escaped relatively unscathed although the baby kept crying all the time. The other passengers also had a narrow escape and produce was scattered around the site of the accident.
Jessamy said after the accident that he wasn’t going to travel in another bus again. He declared that he was going to shelve all his plans and stay home for the remainder of his vacation here. (Gaulbert Sutherland)
