‘Conversation Tree’ minibus smash-up…
-conductor for post mortem tomorrow
-police pull in several buses
SURVIVORS of Friday’s grisly minibus smash-up in the vicinity of ‘Conversation Tree’ on the Rupert Craig Highway just outside the city on the lower East Coast are still reeling from the shock and trauma common with such tragedies. Among the 11 casualties of the mid-morning accident — which reportedly involved a Route 44 minibus (BKK 2686), a hire car (HB 4410), and a pickup (PKK 545) — was the 30-year-old conductor of the minibus, Arvin Ramroop, who suffered a crushed skull and died on the spot.
One of the 10 survivors is Raywattie Gill, 54, of Lusignan, also on the lower East Coast.  Currently a patient in the Female Surgical Ward of the Georgetown Hospital, Raywattie vows to be more discerning when choosing public transportation in the future.
“From now on, the only driver I travelling with will be dem old drivers,” she said, adding that everything happened so fast, that before she knew it, she was lying helpless on the floor of the minibus.
“I was in the conductor seat, and people were climbing over me. I was helpless; I don’t know how I come out, but somebody get me out,” Gill said. She sustained injuries to her shoulder, head and hands and is in severe pain.
She said that while she is not sure what caused the accident, what she does know for certain is that contrary to reports elsewhere in the media, the driver of the minibus was not speeding.
Twenty-two-year-old Ravina Baljit of Sparendaam, also on the lower East Coast, said that while she was still experiencing some measure of pain, she was feeling a sight better than when she was first admitted to the ward. She too is in Female Surgical at the Georgetown Hospital, as is 68-year-old Thomati Sukhram.
Ravina, who suffered lacerations to her left hand and head, said she too does not remember much of what transpired that day, except that “it was a very bad experience.”
Sukhram, who lives at Mon Repos, hurt one of her shoulders, her back and head.
Of the three women, she was the only one who was able to say how the accident occurred. “The bus sway from the pickup,” she said, “and the car hit it. Everyone screamed, and from then, I just close my eyes. I don’t even know how I end up here.” And like Raywattie Gill, she too swore that the driver of the minibus was not speeding.
“I guh to town every day, and travel with dem boys regular. They were going at the normal speed they always drive…Dem boys were safe,” she said.
By “dem boys,” she meant the deceased conductor, Ramroop, and the bus driver, Kumar Budram, who reportedly is still in police custody.
According to reports, the ill-fated minibus had left the city and was proceeding east to Annandale, East Coast Demerara, when the accident occurred. Ramroop’s post mortem is expected to be performed tomorrow, and according to his cousin, Mr. Teddy Rambarran, the funeral is likely to be held on Wednesday.
“The family is coping with his death. It was a real shock for them. Right now they making preparations for his funeral,” he said.

Police Action

Meanwhile, following the accident, several Route 44 minibuses were pulled in and impounded at the Beterverwagting Police Station, ECD.
Reports are that buses plying that route were stopped by the police, discharged of their passengers and taken to the police station at around 08:00h yesterday.
Drivers say they were told to go home and return to the station before the morning was over to collect their vehicles.
However, at 12:40h yesterday, the buses were still at the station and all the owners or drivers were told was that the vehicles needed to be certified by an officer before they can be released and put into operation.
When this newspaper visited the police station, the officer in charge of the traffic department there declined to comment as to why the buses were still being held and when they would be released to their owners.
Persons using that mode of public transportation to commute along the East Coast of Demerara have since voiced their concern about the inconvenience this move is causing.
One woman, who asked not to be named, said: “People got to still go to work and get things done. They hold up all the buses and make things more difficult.”
Several bus owners and drivers gathered outside the Beterverwagting Police Station also voiced their concern. “It is unfair for them to hold the buses so long. People lose out on specials to the airport and things like that,” one man, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
Additionally, police have indicated that they are still investigating the circumstances of Friday’s accident.