A MOTORCYCLIST and his pillion rider were seriously injured after they careened off the public road, slammed into a tree and ended up in a drainage trench, at Walton Hall on the Essequibo Coast, around 03:00 hrs yesterday. The two men, who suffered injuries, were returning home from work at a rice factory at Evergreen, also on the Essequibo Coast, when the accident occurred.
The rider, known only as ‘Gay’, lost control of his motorcycle while negotiating the sharp bend and landed in the trench and was pinned under water. His pillion rider, whose name was given as Jameel, was hurled some distance over the trench.
Several residents, who heard the loud sound of the crash, got out of bed and went with torchlights to offer assistance to the victims.
One of the rescuers, Kabika Persaud known as ‘Chico’, said he was the first on the scene after hearing the pillion rider calling for help from in a clump of bushes.
He and other residents quickly jumped into the trench and freed the motorcyclist who was trapped unconscious under the surface.
The pillion rider suffered a broken foot and several other injuries and, he, too, was taken to Suddie Hospital, where both of them were admitted.
But the motorcyclist was transferred to a city hospital for further treatment.
Residents of Walton Hall are now calling on the Ministry of Public Works to place safety rails and lights at the dangerous bend on the public road.
Persaud said he has saved many persons from drowning in the drainage trench after accidents at the turn, which is a point of danger, especially at nights.
He said, last December, a young man lost control of his motorcycle there and suffered a broken neck and, just a few weeks ago, a car overturned in the trench at night and the driver narrowly escape death.