Bus ends up in Banks DIH trench

Apr 14, 2014 News

– passengers repeatedly begged driver to slow down

Several passengers got an unwelcome scare at around 14.30 hrs yesterday, when a route 42 minibus driver, who had repeatedly ignored pleas to slow down, drove his vehicle off the East Bank Demerara Public Road and overturned it in the Banks DIH Limited canal.

The partly submerged ‘Pit Bull’ bus

The passengers, including two small children, were pulled to safety by residents of the nearby Meadowbank community. No one was seriously hurt but some of the victims lost their bags, cell phones and other valuables in the partly submerged bus.
The driver of the 19-seater ‘Pit Bull’, BNN 7970, alleged that he was approaching Rahaman’s Turn when his brakes failed. He claimed he was unable to control the vehicle, which ploughed through a metal barrier at the opposite end of the road and ended up in the canal.
But some passengers told Kaieteur News that the driver was going at a fast rate and had repeatedly ignored their pleas to be more cautious.
Abena Fraser, who suffered minor injuries to her left leg, said that she had boarded the bus at Coverden, East Bank Demerara. She alleged that the driver was speeding and overtaking other vehicles.
“He was speeding and we were trying to tell him to stop but he ain’t listen to we,” she said. “You know how many vehicles he pass?”
According to Fraser, when the bus was in the vicinity of Rahaman’s Park the vehicle began to “wobble” and the driver was unable to control the bus when it approached Rahaman’s Turn.
Instead of going around the turn, the vehicle headed towards the Banks DIH Canal at the opposite side of the road.
“He came straight across the road and I say we dead.” The bus then crashed through the metal barrier near the Banks DIH Canal, and ‘flipped’ into the canal, with the screaming passengers still inside.
Fraser recalled clambering through the door and later being pulled to shore by Meadowbank resident Bertis Cumbermack. She said that two small children were among those rescued.
A male passenger, whose belongings were left in the bus, also alleged that the driver was speeding and ignored appeals for caution.
“He was driving wild and people were talking to him but he didn’t pay them any mind,” he said.
Police ranks questioned the driver at the scene before taking him to the East Ruimveldt Police Station.