No.53 labourer succumbs after cycle accident

A labourer at a Number 54 Village, Corentyne rice mill was pronounced dead on arrival yesterday morning at the Skeldon hospital following an accident on the Number 53 Village Public Road.

Premdas Boodhoo, 39, of No. 52 Village, Corentyne was cycling to work when the accident occurred.

Premdas Boodhoo

An eyewitness told Stabroek News that he was standing on the road about 200 feet away when disaster struck.

He noted that Boodhoo passed him on his bicycle and shortly after a white 212 motor car with the licence plate number PLL 2621 drove past at a speed of about 90-100 mph heading behind the cyclist. He then heard a loud noise and rushed to the scene and saw the man lying on the road.

He added that the driver reversed to render assistance to the man but saw that he was lifeless.

The police arrived later and started to conduct an investigation.

Another resident told SN that at the time of the accident she was in her house.

She said “I heard a loud noise `bang’! from the road and I ran out and saw a white car reversing, going back to the scene of the accident.” She added: “By the time I reached the scene he was already dead.

He was  lying in the grass on the shoulder of the public road.”

Boodhoo was described by residents as a very peaceful person. A resident said: “He is the type of person that would call on you every time he passes.”

The driver and the motor car are in police custody. The car is lodged at the No.51 police station compound.

This is the second accident in a week involving pedal cyclists on the Corentyne road. Last Monday, Ryan Benjamin, aged 14, was struck down on his bicycle by a pick-up truck owned by the Region Six Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Benjamin was hit while riding on the No. 45 Village, Public Road. Benjamin is still under watch at the Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital.