Mon Repos gardener dies after being hit by speeding driver

A Mon Repos gardener was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) early yesterday morning, after he was hit by a car at the Turkeyen Public Road.

Suresh Sawh, police said in a press release yesterday afternoon, was riding along the stretch of East Coast Demerara road when he was struck down by motor vehicle PJJ 8098, which was reportedly speeding.

The incident, according to police, occurred at about 5.10am. Investigations have revealed that the driver of PJJ 8098 “was allegedly proceeding at a fast rate when he lost control of the vehicle and struck down the pedal cyclist.”

Suresh, 43, of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara was taken the city hospital. However, he

Suresh Sawh

succumbed to his wounds before arrival.

The driver of the vehicle, police further reported, has been arrested and is in custody assisting with the investigations.

Ramraj Sawh told Stabroek News late last night that he had last seen his brother alive on Tuesday afternoon. The man said that at about 6am yesterday a friend informed him that Suresh had been “knocked down.” His brother, Ramraj said, was making his way to Sheriff Street, Georgetown where he worked. “As soon as I get this message me and some other relatives rush down to the scene and when I get there the police were already there,” Ramraj recalled. “The first thing the police told me was that if the man was my brother then he was already dead.” It was Ramraj who identified his brother’s body at the GPH morgue. Investigators, Ramraj told this newspaper, have since told him that the driver of PJJ8098 was drinking at a popular night spot on the East Coast. “This man (the driver) only come in the country couple days now on holiday and the police and some other people tell us that he was drinking at some place…I hope the police charge this man because we are afraid that this man might want to get out of the country to get away from the problem,” the distressed man said.

The vehicle which hit cyclist Suresh Sawh yesterday morning.

Passengers of a minibus, which was passing the accident scene early yesterday morning, Ramraj said, have since told him that the driver and a woman were in the vehicle when it hit Suresh. “These people tell me that the woman who was in the car jump out and jump in a bus and didn’t look back,” Ramraj said.

It was a passing police patrol that stopped and was able to arrest the driver before he too managed to flee the scene, Ramraj was told by the minibus passengers. “These people tell me that when he realize a police van was coming he jump in the back seat of his car and try to hide…this man can’t get off at all because if you see how he damage up my brother,” Ramraj said.