2 burnt to death in horrific two-car collision at Bath

By Andrew Carmichael

Two men are now dead and five other persons hospitalised after the cars in which they were travelling ended up in a head-on collision at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice (WCB) on Wednesday afternoon resulting in one bursting into flames.

The dead persons have been identified as Nero Bankay, 24, of Bush Lot, WCB, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Shiv Persaud-Hanoman, 48, of the same village.

The injured are Rookmaine Trotman of Bennett Dam, Rosignol; Nigel Trotz, 34, of 126 Main Street, Cumberland, East Canje; Fiona Rossoul, 32, of Canefield, East Canje; Phyllis Corlette, 41, of King Street, Cumberland, East Canje and Carmen Marks of New Amsterdam.

Trotz, who was one of the drivers at the time of the accident, and Rossoul were initially treated at the Fort Wellington Hospital and then transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital for further treatment.

Trotman, Corlette and Marks were also treated at Fort Wellington before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

At the time of the accident, Bankay was driving a Toyota MR5 Spyder racing convertible with registration number PJJ 6999, while Trotz was taking passengers from Rosignol to Georgetown in HC 5367.

When Guyana Times International arrived on the scene, the vehicles were about 33 feet apart; one on the roadway and the other smoking just off the road.

According to one eyewitness, Ramdat Bicram, he was sitting on a bench when he saw PJJ 6999 swerving into the path of HC 5367, causing the collision.

“The blue car pull brakes and the one that coming from Town run in straight into am. It just ‘hice’ up spin right away round and he start to catch afire.”

According to another resident, “Sackoor” only name given, after he heard the impact, he rushed to the scene and noticed that one of the cars was already engulfed in flames.

“I was told that people were in the car, but no one could go close to the vehicle because of the flame… The residents formed a bucket brigade and they extinguished the fire,” “Sackoor” said, in about 10 minutes, using two buckets and getting water from a trench about 50 feet away. Shortly after, the Fire Service arrived. “When we get the opportunity to go closer, we saw the two persons: one without head and the other one burnt beyond [recognition].”

Reports are that Trotz was the first to come out of the other car and lay on the ground, while residents took the other four injured persons out of the vehicle.

“The other four were in pain and in blood, subsequently people came and rescued them to the hospital,” “Sackoor” noted.

This publication was informed that the Toyota MR5 Spyder is owned by Dr Ishram Indra Persaud and had just come out of the mechanic shop for a test run.

According to Persaud, Persaud-Hanoman had done some work on the car and since he did not have a driver’s licence, Bankay was asked to drive.

Persaud-Hanoman, who is a mechanic by profession, re-migrated from Canada three weeks ago.

Police have since launched an investigation into the accident.