Ex-top cop’s vehicle was swerving along road

– accident survivor

Salim Mohamed, one of the porters in the Bakewell truck involved in Friday’s accident in which former commissioner of police Henry Greene and 10-year-old Shaffiya Jamaluddin died, said that prior to the collision, Greene’s vehicle had been swerving from side to side.

“We were going to Parika and we see this white SUV coming in the other lane and it was wobbling. We thought the driver drunk so the car in front of us slow down and pull in the corner but then the SUV pick up a speed and slam into the white car,” Mohamed told Stabroek News yesterday.

Henry Greene

Greene’s vehicle and the car collided head-on, on the West Demerara highway at Waller’s Delight.

Speaking with this newspaper, the 19-year-old Mohamed said that he was seated between the driver of the truck, 35-year-old Victor Persaud of Vriesland, West Bank Demerara and 22-year-old Dharmendra Prashad Misir, of Cove and John, East Coast Demerara (ECD), who is also a porter.

According to Mohammed, of Lusignan, ECD, despite the attempts to take evasive action by the drivers of the truck and the other car involved in the accident, Greene’s vehicle still smashed into them.

“The car in front of us slow down and then we slow down too after we notice this car driving lil funny. But is after the man pick up speed we couldn’t swerve and save ourselves. After I see he blam into the car, I shut my eyes and next thing I know he hit we too,” the teen recalled.

He explained that when he opened his eyes, his attention first turned to Misir who was crying out loudly in pain then to the driver. He said both their faces were covered in blood and he then realized that their legs had all been pinned by the front of the truck which was smashed in.

Mohamed said that persons immediately rendered assistance but it took about 20 minutes before Misir, the first to be pulled from the truck, was rescued. Several minutes later, he and Persaud were also freed. The men were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) and Mohamed and Misir were treated and sent home while Persaud was admitted. He was later transferred to the Balwant Singh Hospital but was yesterday discharged and is now at home resting.

Mohamed said that while trapped in the truck, he could see as persons from the car were being rescued and placed to lie on the side of the road; they were motionless, he added.

‘Disoriented’

The driver of that car, Raheem Kaleem, 45, along with the other occupants, his sons Reeaz Kaleem, 18; and Fawaaz Kaleem, 15; along with Shaimoon Kaleem, 46; and Zaitoon Hoosein, 26, all of Canefield, East Canje, sustained injuries and were also taken to the WDRH. Shaimoon was treated and sent away, while the others were admitted and later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where they are currently patients.

Shaffiya Jamaluddin

When this newspaper visited the hospital, officials said that the patients were “disoriented” and would be unable to speak until after two to three days.

However, Zaitoon Hoosein’s sister, ‘Chile’ (only name given), said that her sister had sustained injuries to her head and was admitted to the High Dependency Unit. Her jaw was also said to be broken and doctors are closely monitoring her condition. Hoosein is the mother of the dead child.

The three men were all admitted to the Male Medical Ward and are in stable conditions. Chile said they related that Greene was speeding before the accident occurred.

‘I propa cry’

A revisit to the scene revealed that residents were still shaken up by the accident and spoke with alarm of what had occurred.

“I see the black car fly into this bridge, almost in the trench and then I see this green thing coming, I thought it was a garbage truck and the white vehicle pitch into that too. I start holler and cry… if you see people wa come to help. Too much people come. They tek long to bruck open the doors and get them poor people out though. I propa cry,” said Latchmie Deepoo, an elderly woman in front of whose home the accident occurred.

On her Lot 1 Waller’s Delight bridge, white markings of where the black car transporting the family landed could be seen. On the road exactly in front of her home, other markings were noticed.

Police officers removing documents from the former commissioner’s SUV after Friday’s accident

Deepoo said she could not manage to leave her front door which is just about 15 feet away from her bridge and had a clear view of everything. She admitted that the event has traumatized her somewhat.

Her husband, Hanuman Deepoo, who said he ventured out to the road for a closer look, stated that it took about an hour before all the occupants of the vehicles were freed.

In the area, no one seemed to have been familiar with the former commissioner and even yesterday, residents seemed oblivious as to who he was.

When this newspaper visited Greene’s home yesterday, relatives indicated that his wife was not in a position to speak at the time and asked that they be contacted at a later date. However, a close relative told Stabroek News that his family remembers him as a very private, disciplined, but jovial person. He was said to have never spoken about his work inside the home.

Greene enjoyed spending time at the Bistro Restaurant where he loved to sample various dishes. After his retirement in April, he was said to have focused his energies on a farm he owned along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway and a dredge in the interior.

He was a father of two: a boy, Troy and a girl, Jasmine.

Police, in a statement, said the accident occurred around 9.10 am while Greene was driving his SUV, PLL 7411, along the roadway. They said it was reported that his vehicle veered into the lane of the car, PJJ 4812, which was travelling in the opposite direction, resulting in a head-on collision.

The police said that after Greene collided with the car, his vehicle then collided with the Bakewell truck, GJJ 9067 that was travelling behind the car.

As a result of the collision, Greene and Jamaluddin, of Adelphi, East Canje Berbice, sustained injuries and were pronounced dead on arrival at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. Greene was alive when he was pulled out of his vehicle, according to eyewitnesses, but he succumbed on the way to the hospital. A hospital source said it was not clear whether Greene died of injuries sustained or other causes. Greene was 58.