The pick-up involved in the accident

RELATIVES are desperately trying to come to grips with the sudden and tragic death of a husband and wife.

For the Pearson family, Sunday night is one they will never forget, having lost both parents to an accident on the Garden of Eden Public Road, East Bank Demerara.

It was about 19:00 h and the couple was on their scooter returning home from a family christening at Grove when they were killed by a speeding pick-up.

Dead are Marlyn Pearson, 62, and Albert Pearson, 59, of Land of Canaan, also on the East Bank Demerara. The Pearsons died on the spot.

The blood stains where Albert Pearson impacted the concrete bridge ‘after’ he and his wife were struck by a pickup truck which was proceeding towards Georgetown. The accident occurred at the double koker that separates the villages of Friendship and Garden of Eden  on the East Bank Demerara. The motorcyclist and his wife were both pulled from the canal closest to Garden of Eden. The pickup ended up in the other canal closest to Friendship. A few brave villagers recovered both bodies that were submerged in the canal.

Albert was flung several feet away while his wife ended up in a nearby trench and was pulled out minutes after the impact by public-spirited citizens who rushed to the scene.

Their broken and bloodied bodies were placed at the roadside until the police arrived on the scene.

The pick-up landed in the trench while the motorcycle was on the road. Marlyn Pearson was employed at the Ministry of Culture as a welfare officer, while her husband was a supervisor attached to Barama Company.

The atmosphere at home was somber when this newspaper visited yesterday with relatives recalling the last time they saw them alive.

Police confirmed that the driver of the pick-up is still in custody. (MICHEL OUTRIDGE)