Driver surrenders to police

Jun 22, 2011 News

– injured boy able to talk

The driver of the car that struck down two children on Monday morning, killing one of them on the spot, has surrendered to police in Berbice.
The man turned himself in at the Blairmont Station on the West Bank of Berbice, almost 24 hours after his vehicle struck and killed nine-year-old Jasmattie Ramnauth and seriously injured her seven-year-old brother Vijai.
According to police sources, the driver was accompanied by his brother-in-law when he presented himself to the authorities.
The man had fled the scene of the accident, which occurred on the Cotton Tree Public Road, when his speeding car hit the two children – who were on their way to school – before it crashed into a nearby fence.
Eyewitnesses told the media that the driver must have been travelling at over 100kmh in a 50kmh zone. He lost control of the vehicle and careened off towards a nearby fence, slamming into the children.

Injured: Vijai Ramnauth

The eyewitness had told this newspaper that after the accident, the driver had helped to place the children into a minibus and joined the said bus with a view to taking them to the Fort Wellington Hospital.
However, somewhere during the journey, he stopped the bus, jumped out and disappeared.
There are reports that several villagers went in pursuit of him after learning that he had fled into the backlands of the village.
Police say that the man could appear in court, charged with causing death by dangerous driving, before the week is over.
Meanwhile, relatives of the injured Vijai told this newspaper yesterday that he is making steady progress, in terms of his recovery.
The seven-year-old, who arrived at the Georgetown Hospital by ambulance on Monday morning in an unconscious condition, suffering from severe head injuries, is now able to talk.
“He get up and asking fuh juice,” a relative told Kaieteur News.
Vijai and his sister Jasmattie were walking along the Cotton Tree Public Road when they were struck down by a speeding Honda sports car, PMM 8812, around 08:25 hours on Monday.
This newspaper was told that the dead girl’s right foot was severed at the knee while portions of her brain were left on the road. Her ribbon was several yards from her body, leaving nothing to the imagination about how far she was dragged.
Public-spirited persons had to lift the car to get to the children who were pinned underneath.
A police source has indicated that they will be moving to have the errant driver’s licence suspended.
Information received by this newspaper has revealed that the same driver had hit a boy from the same area two years ago. The lad was left crippled. Ironically, the boy resides next door to the Ramnauths.