Highway crash survivors recovering

The two survivors of Sunday morning’s accident on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway that claimed four lives are in a stable condition in the male open ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Injured: Bevon Hector
Injured: Bevon Hector

When Stabroek News visited the hospital yesterday, relatives of Bevon Hector, 21, and Aubrey Renville, 27, gathered at their bedsides, in support of the injured young men. Hector managed to mouth a few words to relatives, some of whom prayed and encouraged him to recover from his injuries. His mother, Allison Hector, told this newspaper that her son has been responding to medication given to him. She said her son could not receive medication for his injuries on Sunday since he had some amount of alcohol in his system. His hands were strapped to his bed, as according to her, he was admitted to the hospital in a delirious state. The woman said that she is finding it difficult to approach Renville, who lay a few beds away from her son, since he is in a much better condition than her son.

Meanwhile, Renville, who was driving the car at the time of the accident, was conversing with his relatives at the hospital yesterday. He sustained injuries to his right leg along with a few bruises about his body. A cousin told Stabroek News yesterday that Renville is lucky to be alive when one considers the condition of the car in the aftermath of the accident.

  Dead: Candace Simon
Dead: Candace Simon

According to the relative, Renville related to him that he drove into the rear of a motor lorry which he thought was moving at the time.
The two men along with four others were returning to the Georgetown after attending Linden Town Week activities when tragedy struck. A police press release stated that around 3.30 am on Sunday, the car in which the six were travelling in ran into the rear of the motor lorry and trailer, which had broken down on the highway in the vicinity of the Guyana Defence Force Camp Seweyo.

Those who perished in the accident are traffic policeman Trevor Bramble, 28; Ashanti Gomes-Odle, 21; Selema Mohamed, 24 and Candace Simon, 26. The group made an early morning return to Georgetown since, according to reports, Bramble was expected to report for duty on Sunday morning.

Dead: Ashanti Gomes-Odle
Dead: Ashanti Gomes-Odle

Three of the victims died on the spot while the fourth succumbed on the way to the hospital. Persons who converged at the hospital on Sunday related that some of the victims were badly disfigured. Bramble and the surviving men were reported to have been very close friends.

While speeding has been a major factor in most road accidents over the years, trucks parked along the Linden/Soesdyke highway have reportedly been responsible for a number of accidents which have occurred along that route.

On October 10, 2007, ten persons perished and a few others were injured in a horrific accident which occurred in the vicinity of Amelia’s Ward in Linden. The victims were travelling in a minibus which was operating within the mining town. The bus reportedly slammed into the rear of a parked lumber truck. The accident occurred around 8 pm that ill-fated day while the minibus was ascending a hill.

Two months later, on December 12, 45-year-old Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) employee Paul Teixeira was killed on the spot when the vehicle he was travelling in ran into the back of an unlit truck, which was parked along the highway in the vicinity of Dora.

Two other occupants of the vehicle were critically injured in that accident. Teixeira had been returning to Georgetown to attend to his wife who was sick at the time.

Dead: Selema Mohamed
Dead: Selema Mohamed
Dead: Troy Bramble
Dead: Troy Bramble

Persons have in the past also complained about the lack of lighting on the Linden/Soesdyke highway. In the absence of moonlight, road users are forced to rely on their vehicle’s headlamps for guidance along the roadway at night.