Pensioner dies after taxi topples along Long Creek road
A 69-year-old woman is now dead and three other persons are hospitalised after the hire car in which they were travelling toppled after a tyre blowout on Thursday night along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
Dead is Marva Alder, of Lot 132E Wismar Housing Scheme, Linden.
The injured persons have been identified as Simone Barker, 56, of Wismar, Linden; Mervyn McAndrew, 54, and Joel Mc Andrew, 21, of Sophia.
The accident occurred around 19.00hrs along the Long Creek Public Road, Soesdyke-Linden Highway. At the time, Alder and the others were passengers of hire car, HD 3772, driven by a 40-year-old Linden resident.
According to a Guyana Police Force report, enquiries by investigators revealed that the vehicle was proceeding south along the eastern side of the public road where the driver alleged that the left front tyre blew out. As a result, he lost control of the vehicle, which toppled several times before landing in a ditch on the eastern side of the public road.
Alder was taken out of the vehicle in an unconscious state. She was later examined by an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), who pronounced her dead at the scene.
Barker and the McAndrews were placed in an ambulance and taken to the Mackenzie Hospital, where they were admitted.
The driver of the vehicle was subjected to a breathalyser test but no trace of alcohol was found. He was placed in police custody nevertheless.
Alder’s granddaughter, Candacy Alder, yesterday told Sunday Stabroek that she was at work when she learnt of the accident through a social media update. “I was at work when I get the news that she passed away….I see it on somebody status,” she said.
At the time of the accident, Candacy said, her grandmother was returning home after visiting Georgetown to transact business.