Latest update April 3rd, 2025 6:51 PM
Bus driver distracted by fallen phone, kills pedestrian
A minibus driver now faces a charge of causing death by dangerous driving as the woman he knocked down 20 days ago on the East Bank Public Road succumbed to her injuries yesterday.
Dead: Odessa Sarabo
Mahadeo Mangro, the driver of Minibus BPP 7075 is scheduled to face the court on Thursday according to Traffic Chief Dion Moore, for causing the death of Odessa Sarabo age 37.
On September 29 last, the mother of one, got news of a death in her family and left her lot 39 First Street, Prospect EBD home to offer condolences to relatives three villages away at Grove.
However, as she was making her way from one side of the road to the other on the pedestrian crossing, she was hit by the minibus which flung her about 10 feet away.
The time was just after 15:00hrs and from all accounts, the bus was speeding. Witnesses said that another minibus driver saw the woman on the crossing and slowed down but the other driver paid scant regard while approaching the crossing.
“The driver of the bus that slowed down push he hand outside with a rag and was waving for the next bus to slowdown but he was driving so fast that he under take. He was talking on his phone and it fell down. When he bend down to pick up the phone, he hit she and she pitch up in the air,” an eyewitness recalled.
Sarabo’s grieving mother Myrtle Hunte said that she is disappointed that after her only daughter was hit, the driver refused to take her to the hospital.
“He said he didn’t want no blood to mess up he bus, so the police had to come and take she to the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital,” one witness said.
Soon after arrival at Diamond, Sarabo was referred to the Georgetown Hospital where her injuries included a broken pelvis; two broken legs; a fractured skull and abrasions about her body.
Hunte said the driver was arrested and released on station bail and according to her, he has since been seen working as a conductor on the same minibus that was involved in the accident.
“We want him re-arrested and charged because my granddaughter is now without a mother and I’m without my only daughter,” Hunte said.
Yesterday as relatives sat down, planning the funeral, Sarabo’s 14 year old daughter, burst into tears as they reflected on her life.
“My mother was epileptic but she was a very loving, friendly and jovial person who was in a lot of pain after the accident and I want some form of justice because after the driver knock she down, he didn’t want she blood in he bus and she was not no animal.”
The young woman is now totally left in the care of her grandparents who promised to continue taking care of her wellbeing. (Mondale Smith)
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