Antonio “Bucky” De Santos perished in a hit-and-run accident early on Monday morning in the vicinity of Swan Turn, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, East Bank Demerara.
His badly-crushed body was discovered at about 05:30h by a woman who was returning home from Georgetown. Reports reaching Guyana Times International revealed that the 25-year-old man was suspected to have been hit by a speeding vehicle just after 01:30h while on his way home from a birthday party. Relatives identified him by the clothes he was wearing at the time, as well as by his mobile phone and a chain found on the roadway.
It is believed that De Santos was under the influence of alcohol when he met his death, since he was seen imbibing at the party in the village.
When this newspaper visited the scene, De Santos’s body was being removed by undertakers of the Lyken Funeral Home, while family members sobbed. Parts of the man’s body were scattered on the roadway, as other drivers would have unwittingly run over the body.
A resident in the area said he was at home when he heard the impact, but he thought it was an animal that had been struck down, so he went back inside. He said that he only saw the brake lights of the vehicle as it slowed down before speeding away.
“The place is normally very dark, which makes it difficult for a driver to notice anything on the road, especially when going around the One Mile Turn at a fast rate,” the man added.
The now dead man’s mother, Wendy Dundas, disclosed that she also heard the impact at about 01:30h, but she thought it was a dog that was struck down, and so she also went back to sleep. “When I wake up this morning, meh neighbour called me and tell me that Bucky was struck down and killed and that his body was damaged beyond recognition.”
The woman said she subsequently ran towards the scene, but was stopped halfway there by relatives, who told her that it was a sight too gruesome to look at. “I stay far, but meh heart keep pounding and I ask mehself, why didn’t I run to the road when I hear the impact. If I de only wake up meh other son!” Dundas cried.
Larry Dundas, the brother of the deceased, said that the last time he had seen his brother was on Sunday evening at about 19:00h.
The grieving brother related that Bucky went home, took a bath, and went out to a birthday party in the company of another brother, Phillo.
The party, he noted, was some distance from where his brother resided.
He said he was awakened by screams on Monday morning when the discovery was made, and he rushed to the roadside, where he saw his brother’s body.
Phillo was taken to the Kuru Kururu Police Station to give a statement, since he was the last person to see “Bucky” alive, Dundas added. He said that he was informed that Phillo had left Bucky at the party and returned home, at sometime after 01:00h.
De Santos leaves to mourn his mother, foster-father, two brothers, and two sisters. This is the third hit-and-run fatality to have occurred on the One Mile Turn.
In 2003, De Santos’s father, Anthony De Santos, was also killed by a speeding vehicle while crossing the road.
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