Midnight drag race leaves man dead, friend critical

May 04, 2009 News

By Fareeza Haniff

A 26-year-old minibus driver was killed on the spot and his 27-year-old friend seriously injured after a night of drinking and drag racing at Ruby, East Bank Essequibo.

Dead: Ramesh Sookdeo

Ramesh Sookdeo, called ‘Jerry’, of Parika/Hydronie, East Bank Essequibo, died at around 12:30 hrs yesterday after his the car slammed into a fence at Ruby, East Bank Essequibo.
His badly injured friend, Richard Whyte, was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he is listed as critical.
Reports reaching Kaieteur News stated that Sookdeo, a popular minibus conductor on the West Coast of Demerara, was drinking with six other friends at a popular beer garden called ‘Burns’ in Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo on Saturday night.
The group left the beer garden at around 12:00 midnight in two cars Sookdeo driving a Silver Mitsubishi Lancer, PKK 1134 with Whyte in the passenger seat. The other friends boarded another car, PLL 5706.
Kaieteur News understands that the friends decided to drag race on the road since it was early in the morning and traffic was light.
But as they approached a hump on the Ruby Bridge, both drivers lost control and veered off the roadway.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Sookdeo was in, toppled several times, and eventually landed on a nearby fence.

The current state of the other car that was involved in the drag race.

Whyte was reportedly flung out of the car, while Jerry died on the spot.
The other car slammed into a house, knocking out four posts and damaging the steps.
But a safety air bag saved the driver, Romeo Randolph from serious injury. The other occupants also escaped with minor lacerations.
It was reported that these occupants came out of the vehicle looking for Jerry, not knowing that he was already dead in the car.
Occupants of the damaged house said that they were ‘jumped out’ of their sleep by the impact. They were unaware that an accident had occurred until they came downstairs and made the gruesome discovery.
The Mitsubishi Lancer was damaged beyond recognition, and persons who gathered at the scene, expressed disbelief at the sight of the mangled vehicle.