NAREI officer dies in Tacama Trail accident
Aaron Leitch, a 34-year-old District Crop Extension Officer attached to the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) died following an accident around 8 yesterday morning along the Tacama trail, Ituni District, Region Ten.
The accident involved a pickup, PAC 3958, owned by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) and attached to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which was being driven at the time by Nigel Hutson, a 50year-old from Georgetown, with occupants, Gregory Grenville, 39, from Amelia’s Ward, Linden; Arafat Fazal, 37, a Bangladeshi national, and Leitch.
Enquiries revealed that the pickup was proceeding east along the Tacama trail at a fast rate and while negotiating a bend, the driver lost control of the vehicle causing it to leave the trail and topple several times before it coming to a halt.
The accident resulted in the driver and occupants sustaining injuries. They were picked up by public-spirited persons in a conscious state, except for Leitch who was unconscious at the time, and rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex.
Leitch was pronounced dead on arrival while Fazal was admitted and later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital. His condition is regarded as stable. Meanwhile, Grenville, along with the driver, were treated and sent away. The driver is currently assisting police with the investigation.
Keenan Leitch, the sister of the deceased, told Stabroek News that she couldn’t say exactly what happened but what she heard is that her brother was on duty when he was involved in an accident along the Tacama trail and he was flung out of the vehicle.