A miner is now dead following an accident on Monday evening, when he rode his unregistered motorbike into a truck at Lethem, in Region Nine.
The miner has since been identified as 24-year-old Sylvester Junior De Mendonca, of Lot 41 Lethem, Central Rupununi, who had reportedly been driving an unregistered motorcycle at the time of the accident.
According to police reports, the accident occurred around 9.20 pm along the bridge that links St. Ignatius to Lethem.
It is alleged that De Mendonca had been seen speeding along the St. Ignatius Public Road and failed to stop at the bridge. The bridge, Stabroek News understands, is capable of accommodating only one vehicle at a time. As a result, De Mendonca collided with a pick-up, bearing licence plate PJJ 7485, which was traveling in the opposite direction. The impact of the collision reportedly caused De Mendonca to fall unto the bridge and he received several injuries in the process.
Police reports further indicated that the young man was examined by a doctor and he was pronounced dead at the scene, after which his body was taken to the Lethem Regional Hospital’s Mortuary.
The driver of the pick- up, who has since been identified as Ramesh Barker of St. Ignatius Village, is currently in police custody.
Meanwhile, Athena De Mendonca, the mother of the deceased, told Stabroek News that she last saw her son on Monday evening after which he left her home to go have dinner with some friends. Not too long after, the woman said, someone visited her and informed her that he had been involved in an accident at the bridge. She went on to say that by time she arrived at the scene, her son had already died.
The mother also related to this newspaper that the driver of the pick-up reportedly fled the scene of the accident, leaving her injured son laying on the bridge. However, the police, having found a piece of the licence plate and other articles, were able to locate and identify the driver, who was subsequently taken into custody.
