This story is long and sad.
By Tusika Martin and Gordon French
(Additional reporting by Enid Joaquin)
A trail of grief and shock filled the mining community of Linden in the wake of Wednesday evening's horrific smash-up at Amelia's Ward.
Ten persons have been confirmed dead while nine others are still hospitalised including the driver of the minibus, Mark Lewis, who is under police watch at the Linden hospital.
Those dead are Lorraine Mc Curdy, Florence Cummings, Evelyn Karen Adams, Elaine Lashley, Tyrese Mc Lean, Carl Mc Almont, Paul Lewis, Delroy Mitchell, Colleen Bacchus and Carl Austin.
Contrary to police reports, Nichola Jones, who was said to have been killed in the accident, surfaced at the Linden Hospital yesterday to say that she was never a passenger in the minibus. Jones is an employee of the Linden Medical Centre.
In addition to the driver, those hospitalised are Wendy Nedd, 16, of Central Amelia's Ward; Fonda Lashley, 25, of Cinderella City, Linden; Leon Grenville, 8, of Amelia's Ward; Shurland Daniels, 16, of Cinderella City; Jerome Cruickshank, 29; Stacy Fordyce, 33, of Cinderella City; Odetta Gordon, 35, of South Amelia's Ward; and Oriel Simeon, 34.
Nedd, Simeon and Gordon are patients at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Out in the streets the mood was somber, as people went about their business quietly, many of them reflecting on the terrible tragedy that rocked the town.
The LEAP business centre on Republic Avenue was draped with a huge black flag, as staff there tried to come to grips with the death of colleague Carl Mc Almont, while down the road, Barnes Variety Store remained tightly shut with a little black flag fluttering in the breeze, in tribute to late employees of the entity, Lorraine McCurdy and Florence Cummings.
At the scene of the accident, the mangled minibus and truck remained in place serving as a reminder to hundreds of commuters traversing the roadway.
Kaieteur News observed human bones and eyeballs among the debris which included food, hair, shoes, money and shattered glass.
Yesterday, when Kaieteur News visited 40-year-old McCurdy's home there were loud wails as relatives gathered with the woman's three children to grieve.
Her reputed husband, Joe Barnes, told Kaieteur News that McCurdy's death is the worst thing that has ever happened to him.
“I got a call saying that Florence (the neighbour) died and I said to myself that if Lorraine isn't dead then she is badly wounded. Both of them work at my store and they would leave home together and come back together. I went to the hospital and I saw Florence 's body. I left and went where the accident occurred and I was told that Lorraine went to the hospital in the police vehicle and right away I rush back to the hospital,” the grieving man said.
He added that on his second trip to the hospital he noticed his reputed wife's body in a police vehicle and his fears were confirmed.
“It wasn't nice sight,” the man said, then broke down in tears.
The woman's 20-year-old daughter, Natasha Kennedy, said that she was at classes at the Critchlow Labour College branch in Linden when her sister called to say that their mother was in an accident.
“I kept asking her where the accident was and all she kept saying is that ‘mommy in an accident.' Right away I told my teacher that I had to leave and I rushed down to the hospital just to hear that my mommy is dead,” Kennedy said amidst tears.
McCurdy has left behind three daughters 9 year-old Teia Alexander, 11-year-old Shanika Mc Curdy and 20-year-old Natasha Kennedy.
Over at Florence Cummings home, which is next door to Mc Curdy, nothing was different. One could have heard the loud screams as relatives and friends poured in to console the family.
The 36-year-old woman has one 14-year-old son, who attends the Linden Foundation School .
Her sister, Donette Cummings, said that she was at home awaiting her sister's arrival and her friend (McCurdy) to return from work.
“My girlfriend (Lorraine Mc Curdy) does stop by me every night when she come home. In the mornings when she finish dressing for work she does come over and wait on my sister. So last night (Wednesday night) I went sitting downstairs and I keep looking for them and I wondering is why them late,” she said.
According to her, she heard running upstairs in the house and as she ventured up the stairs she saw her children running down the steps shouting ‘Aunty Florence in an accident.'
“I ask right away for Lorraine . I knew that my friend died even before I went to the scene because she don't sit anywhere but in the front seat. Whilst I running out a girl come up to me and tell me that she see my friend and that one of she foot deh on the road. I just turn back and come back home. I couldn't see me friend like that. My sister didn't die right away, she died at the hospital.”
Both friends died less than two minutes away from their homes.
Like the two friends, Evelyn Karen Adams also died a short distance away from her home. She lived at Lot 28 Toucan Drive, Amelia's Ward.
Onecia Bobb, her niece said that they got the news about the accident but did not know that Adams was dead.
“We rush to the scene not knowing that she died. Then we got a phone call and we were told that she died. When we got to the hospital we were told that she was already transported to the mortuary so we didn't get to see her.”
She said that her 42-year-old aunt was returning home from a prayer meeting at the Holy Ghost Full Gospel church.
“I can't believe that my aunt died. She was such a loving and jovial person. She has one 20-year-old son.”
When Kaieteur News ventured over to the Lashley's home, the household was making preparations for the wake.
Relatives were crying uncontrollably as neighbours gathered at the home.
Lashley's husband, Wendell Lashley, said that said that he and his wife have been living together since she left school. He noted that they have four children aged 25 to 13.
Lashley's eldest daughter, Fonda, was also in the bus with her mother.
The 25-year-old Fonda, along with her mother and two-year-old Tyrece Mc Lean, were returning from a church service when the accident occurred.
“Somebody else call me and tell me that my wife, daughter and nephew were in an accident. I run out. When I reach on the scene, all I see is me wife in the ambulance and I jump in the ambulance with she and go to the hospital.”
At the hospital, he said, the doctor told him that there was not enough transportation available to take the patients to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
“I tell them that I gone take me wife in my bus. So they give me mattress and so and put she in the bus with two nurses and we left but she died before we reach to Georgetown Public Hospital .”
Tyrece Mc Lean, he said, has been living with him and his wife since he was nine days old.
“He is like my own son. I just trying to hold it up right now because I have to be strong for my children's sake. If I break down they wouldn't have any strength to keep it up.”
At the Mc Almonts, the atmosphere was no different from the other houses. The 34-year-old father of two got married three months ago.
Speaking with Kaieteur News from their Lot 1723 Central Amelia's Ward home, Symon Mc Almont, a teacher, said she heard about the accident but was optimistic that her husband was not in the accident.
“I kept saying ‘God, don't let it be him in that accident and if he is there in that bus please protect him.' He was coming home from work. He is an investment officer.
“My husband didn't die on the scene; he died at the hospital. Now I am torn and shattered. I feel so empty now.”
She said that she wants the driver of the minibus to be penalised for every life that was lost ‘because is every family has a missing person and it hurts. I don't think that they should ever allow him to drive again but just let him spend some time in a cell to think about what he did. I am very hurt. I lost my husband. The man I wanted to go with, but he went before me.”
Mother of the driver, Mark Lewis, said that she feels lost. Her other, son Paul Lewis, 19, who was the conductor of the bus was also killed.
Ruby Lewis told Kaieteur News that Paul was her baby. “He was my smallest child. I don't know what to do. Oh God! I don't know what to do. I am in great pain and grief to deal with this whole thing. I keep asking God why so many lives.”
Even as 19-year-old Colleen Bacchus's father who is preparing to bury his father who died a few days ago, is also now left to bury his daughter.
Nigel Bacchus said that when he arrived home that evening his daughter was not there but he thought that she might have gone to ‘hangout' with her friends.
“She sells in my stand because my father died and I am making preparations to bury him. But when I wake up this morning (yesterday) and I didn't see her I start to worry. I hear about the accident last night (Wednesday) but I didn't hear my daughter name so I didn't worry much.
“But after she didn't come home I went to the hospital where I was told that she was dead. Now I have to bury my father and my daughter.”
Seventeen-year-old Delroy Mitchell, a conductor of Cinderella City , left his home about 5:00 hrs on the day of the accident.
His mother, Dawn Hurley, said that her son would normally work on another bus but hitched a ride home with “Cobra” since the owner lives a few houses away.
Hurley said that her son only had one photograph which was taken when he was five years, but that he was about to take another soon.
Hurley said that her son's father resides in Trinidad and Tobago .
According to the woman, she holds no malice for the driver, since accidents can occur at any time.
She however expressed the hope that the authorities ensure that he does not skip the country.
Carl Austin was a bus conductor, who left his 734 South Amelia's Ward home to meet with some friends but never returned. He was a father of three.
While most of the injured complained of excruciating pain, all of them claimed that they were happy to be alive despite their incapacitation.
One grateful mother, Uiete Peters, who was with her son, Shurlon Daniels, as he lay quietly in bed, exclaimed proudly, “We are of God; it is God's will for him to live”. Shurlon will be celebrating his seventeenth birthday on Sunday.
The young man, who sustained minor injuries, said he couldn't remember what happened.
Jerome Cruickshank, another young man who was involved in the accident and had surgery earlier in the day, said that he is indeed thankful to be alive, in spite of the pain that he was feeling, he too couldn't remember what really transpired.
Down at the other end of the hospital in the female ward, Fonda Lashley, the daughter of the now deceased, Elaine Lashley, lay quietly surrounded by friends and loved ones.
According to reports Fonda does not as yet know that her mother is dead, and constantly asks for her.
The younger Lashley suffered injuries to the chest, hip and back.
Stacey Fordyce, another casualty, said that she is grateful to God for sparing her life, despite the fact that both her arms are broken.
In light of this tragedy, residents are calling for the relevant authorities to consider an alternative route for the huge timber trucks that ply the Linden Highway daily, endangering the lives of commuters in the process.
Another suggestion is for timber companies to consider transporting their logs via the Demerara River .
And there are those who have suggested that stringent screening be applied to public transport operators, who literally hold the lives of their passengers in their hands, daily.
On the positive side, senior officials of the Linden Hospital Complex were high in praise of staff, especially the student nurses who they said, displayed great team effort, while rendering much needed medical assistance to the accident victims.
The security personnel also came in for high praise in containing the crowd.
Thousands turned up at the hospital to see what was happening on the night of the incident.
Meanwhile, as Kaieteur News visited the injured persons yesterday at the Linden Hospital , a 13-year-old girl was rushed into the emergency room at about 15:15 hrs after she was hit by a car.
According to reports, the teenager disembarked from a minibus and ran into the path of a car.
