Cop car slams into Uitvlugt Secondary student on pedestrian crossing

An Uitvlugt Secondary School student is nursing injuries at the West Demerara Regional Hospi-tal (WDRH) after she was struck by a police car, PRR 2032, on the pedestrian crossing around 7.50 am yesterday.

The 11-year-old Grade 7 student, Parmini Persaud was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where she was treated for injuries including to her forehead and for minor abrasions.

She was subsequently transferred to the WDRH where her condition was listed as stable.

An eyewitness told Stabroek News that he was in the front seat of the minibus that the girl who lives at Tuschen New Scheme, East Bank Esse-quibo had just disembarked from.

Parmini Persaud
Parmini Persaud
The police car which hit the schoolgirl
The police car which hit the schoolgirl

He recalled that suddenly the speeding police car passed a line of vehicles that had stopped to facilitate the schoolchildren and struck the child.

The man said the child was flung about six feet up in the air and he rushed to assist.

“I see this blue object [the uniform she was wearing] going up in the air… When she dropped on the ground I helped the policeman to open the door to put her in the car and take her to the hospital. ”

According to him, he asked the officer if he was on “official duty” and he said: “Yes, I’m working.”

Another eyewitness told this newspaper that he saw when the car collided with the child’s right side hip and lifted her up in the air. She landed facedown a few feet away. She injured her forehead in the process.

He said too that the girl was picked up in an unconscious state and was bleeding from her nose and mouth. Her shoes were pelted off her feet and her water bottle was also pitched out of her hand.

Stabroek News was told that some of the teachers were in the school doing registration when they heard the loud impact.

When they looked out and realized what had happened they “dropped everything” and proceeded to the hospital. The teachers also contacted the girl’s relatives and stayed with her as she awaited treatment at the hospital.