Lorry driver charged with causing four deaths
Ewart Stewart, the 38year-old lorry driver who was arrested on March 6 over the gruesome accident on the Greenwich Park Public Road, East Bank Essequibo, was charged yesterday with four counts of Causing Death by Dangerous Driving.
The accident occurred at about 9.30 hrs on March 6, 2023, and involved the lorry (GZZ 2285) driven by Stewart and a minibus (BWW 8364) helmed by 50-year-old Vernon Prowell, of Bent Street, Wortmanville, who died in the crash.
Three minibus passengers also died: Margaret Kennedy, 72, of Tuschen; Olga Reddy, 57, of Parika; and Elvis Charles, 40, of Ruby, East Bank Essequibo.
The police said that the accused lorry driver from Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, was also charged over driving:
** an Uninsured Motor Vehicle, Contrary to Section (3) 1 of the Motor Vehicle Insurance (third party risk) act Chapter 51:03.
** an Uncertified Motor Vehicle, Contrary to section 15 of the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act Chapter 51:02.
The accused appeared before Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepersaud at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court, where the Indictable and Summary charges were read to him. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded to prison.
However, bail was granted in the sum of twenty thousand dollars for the summary charge. The matter was adjourned to March 27 for report.
Among the others injured were Stella Parhoo, 73, of Parika; Severn Austin, 44, of Den Amstel; Shemar Alleyne, 21, of Tuschen; Selmont Brisport, 64, of Tuschen; Samuel Ramdas, 46, of Ruby Backdam; and Junior Jack, 25, of Tuschen.
The police said enquiries disclosed that the lorry was proceeding east along the northern side of the Greenwich Park public road at a fast speed approaching a pedestrian crossing, while the minibus was headed in the opposite direction.
The police said the lorry driver claimed that a black car with licence number, HD 1708, which was proceeding in the same direction ahead of him made a sudden stop at the pedestrian crossing. The lorry driver said he applied brakes and swerved right to avoid hitting the car and in doing so, collided with the right front of the minibus.
The owner of the truck, who is a building contractor, said he received a call from his driver that he had been involved in an accident. He said he asked the driver, “how serious and he
responded, ‘people got injured,’ and I asked him what did you do and he said he called 911….” The contractor said he told the driver to handle the situation because he did not want to go to the scene. The contractor confirmed that the driver was in police custody.
The impact from the crash also reportedly caused a utility pole to fall on a house causing visible damage to a section in the front and rendering it temporarily unlivable. The house is said to belong to ‘Aunty Rani,’ a school vendor and it was occupied by her son, Ivor, an excavator operator, and others.
A source who was at the Greenwich Park Primary School, opposite where the accident occurred, recalled that around 9:40 am, she heard a loud swishing sound, and looked out and saw the truck trying to overtake another vehicle and colliding with the bus. She also saw when the pole fell on the house.
She said the bell had already rung for the school’s session to start when the crash occurred and teachers and students were terrified but school continued as normal until 3 pm.
Another eyewitness said the bus was badly mangled and it “took about half an hour” to retrieve the injured. Describing the horrific scene, she said people were screaming and blood was everywhere. She was thankful that no student was on the road at the time.