One of the victims had just returned from the US to attend friend’s wedding

Nineteen-year-old Varshni Khemraj, also called ‘Varsha’ and ‘Shelly,’ of Canefield Settlement, East Canje Berbice, and 27-year-old Satyanand Harripersaud, also called ‘Avin,’ of Lot 97 Sawah Village, Cane Grove, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, lost their lives when the car in which they were travelling reportedly collided with another vehicle and ended up in a canal at Bee Hive, East Coast Demerara.
This incident occurred on Sunday at about 22:15h, when the car Harripersaud was driving, PSS 9153, allegedly swerved into the path of motor car PTT 5270 and a collision resulted. Upon impact, Harripersaud reportedly lost control of his vehicle, and it ended up submerged in a nearby canal.
After several minutes under water, the two persons were eventually extracted from the vehicle and were rushed to the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
The driver of the other car, who hails from Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara, was unhurt, but is presently assisting Police with their investigations. A breathalyser test to which he was subjected found no trace on alcohol in his system.
When this newspaper visited Harripersaud’s Mahaica residence on Monday, his mother, Gomattie Singh, said her son had left home at about 20:00h to go to the KK Service Station to lime with his friend; and at about 22:00h, she received the tragic news of the accident.
She said she and other relatives immediately rushed to the Mahaicony Hospital, where they saw both her son and the young lady lying in the tray of a Police vehicle. She said she had initially thought the Police were waiting on the stretchers to take them into the hospital, but after some time had elapsed, she was informed that they were both dead.
“I say, ‘Nah man! Them ain’t dead! Look them lying in the trunk of the van!’” she noted.
She said it took some convincing for her to believe that her son was gone; because, at the hospital, she did not see any injuries on his body, but she then learnt that they might have drowned.
While she did not have the details about what had taken place, she noted that her son had returned from the United States only on Saturday last, to attend the marriage ceremony of one of his relatives, slated for this weekend.
“On Sunday night he tell me that he going and reach up he friends… He doesn’t always go to KK when he in Guyana, but after he come back from US on Saturday, he say he want to see he friends,” she recounted.
The dead man’s distraught father said he is waiting on the Police to say what had actually transpired. He said his son had been a welder and a good son.
Another relative told Guyana Times International that as the young man was returning home, he swerved from hitting a car that was exiting a street, but this move turned out to be deadly.
“After he swerved from hitting the car, the car that was coming from the opposite side clipped his rear wheel and caused him to lose control and end up in the trench”, the relative related.
When this newspaper visited the scene of the accident, tyre marks were evident on the roadway. A Bee Hive resident explained that she was at home when she heard the crashing sound, and as she peeped outside, she saw the car in the canal.
She said her son and a few other men from the village ran to the scene, but the windows of the motorcar were up, and the men were thus forced to break it to get to the injured persons. By the time the duo were pulled from the canal, they were already in a motionless state.
Harripersaud had probably been drinking, since beer bottles were observed at the scene.
Meanwhile, Shanta Latchman, an aunt of the late Varshni Khemraj, explained that her sister’s daughter was originally from Canje, Berbice, but was spending time with her. She recalled that, on Sunday night, her daughter and the now dead teen had left home to “take a walk’’ at the popular liming spot, KK Service Station; and after some time had elapsed, she received dreaded news of the accident by means of a telephone call.
“My daughter say that Shelly and Avin left to go look for food and she stayed back at KK…” she stated.
Latchman noted that after she received the telephone call, she went to the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital, where she saw the motionless bodies of the two young people.
She noted that it was hard for her to inform her sister of the young woman’s demise, since her sister is ailing.
The bodies of the two young people were taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Home to await a post mortem. (Bhisham Mohamed)