City businessman killed in Mandela Avenue crash

Sep 16, 2022 News

…as sand truck driver jumps traffic light

Kaieteur News – A sand truck driven by a Supply, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara man early Thursday morning slammed into the vehicle of City Businessman, Nigel Cush killing him instantly after jumping the red light at the Mandela Avenue and Cemetery Road junction.

Businessman, Nigel Cush

The truck driver, Aslom Masood, then lied to police that it was Cush who jumped the red light although CCTV footage showed otherwise. Police up to press time have not corrected a statement it issued early Thursday morning with the erroneous version of the truck driver. Based on the CCTV footage, Cush was hit by the speeding truck which had slammed into him. The impact pushed Cush’s vehicle into the traffic signal pole. Reports are that part of his body ended up on the bonnet of his vehicle. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Cush, a father of four was the owner of the popular ‘Grill and Jerk Bar’ on South Road and Cummings Street. Yesterday patrons at the bar were in shock.

Driver of the sand truck, Aslom Masood

When this newspaper visited the ‘Grill and Jerk Bar’ yesterday several blacks flags were seen hoisted on the building as his relatives, customers, and friends mourn. “This is really shocking…Nigel was a very good man, this wildness on the road has to stop,” James Daniels one of the patrons at the bar commented. Several other persons including staff members who showed up at the location were also in disbelief.

According to the police the accident occurred around 01:30hrs as Cush, 45, was heading to his Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown home. Masood told police that his truck GYY 5875 was proceeding east along the northern carriageway on Mandela Avenue.

The mangled vehicle of businessman, Nigel Cush

According to him as he approached the stop light at Cemetery Road and Mandela Avenue, the traffic lights was showing green, he continued driving when he saw Cush’s motorcar, PVV 7062, proceeding south along Cemetery Road. According to Masood, the motorcar then slowed down on the approach of Mandela Avenue, and continued further south, into the lorry’s path.

Masood said he then applied brake and swerved in a south-eastern direction but the left side front portion of the truck collided with the right side front portion of the motorcar. As a result, the car slammed into a lamp pole situated in the center of the median. A breathalyzer test conducted on the driver of the lorry, showed no trace of alcohol. He is presently in police custody assisting with the investigation. The body of the deceased is presently at the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home awaiting a post mortem examination.