A 16-year-old boy on Thursday afternoon met a gruesome death when a tractor-trailer he was driving on the Wauna Public Road, North West District, turned turtle and pinned him down.

Dead is Jetrow Persaud, also of Wauna, North West District, and a Third Form student of the North West Government Secondary School at Mabaruma. He was the second of three four siblings to his parents Kumar Persaud and Yvonne Saywack.

Reports coming out of Mabaruma said the lad, who was home from school due to C-SEC examinations being conducted in the school building, had earlier in the day been driving his father’s Land Cruiser when he lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road, and down a hill.

Unknown to his father who was not at home, the lad reportedly borrowed a tractor/trailer from a villager and was attempting to pull the Cruiser up the hill before the elder Persaud could return home. However, as he was driving the tractor/trailer, he reportedly lost control of that vehicle too, and it turned turtle and pinned him to the ground.

Villagers, on hearing the loud crashing sound, hurried to the scene where they saw his lifeless body. He was rushed to the Mabaruma Public Hospital, about ten miles away, and was pronounced dead on arrival. His parents and siblings were inconsolable on learning of his tragic death. The news of the teen’s demise also plunged the entire secondary school into mourning.

Meanwhile, the owner of the tractor/trailer, who was several miles away at Mabaruma when the vehicle was removed from his home, was taken into police custody. He is assisting the police with their investigations.
The teen’s body was yesterday air-dashed to the city for a post mortem.