– in West Berbice accident
A HEAD-ON collision between two motor cars on the West Coast Berbice public road late Sunday night has left one man dead and five other persons seriously injured and nursing multiple injuries at the New Amsterdam  and Georgetown Public Hospitals. Dead is Ramal Madray, 24, of 3 Bennett Dam Rosignol, West Bank Berbice. He was driving motor car, PFF 9723, which collided with another vehicle, PHH 8004, driven by Rajmattie Persaud, 35, of Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice. Rajmattie is the wife of the late Pastor Martin Persaud, who was murdered at his home by  bandits ten months ago. The accident happened on a turn at Cotton Tree, opposite a ‘playfield’.
Among the injured are:  Rajmattie, Worship Leader at the Bush Lot Assembly of God Church, West Berbice and Proprietrix of the Bush Lot Internet Cafe; Kevin Williams and his wife Maranie Williams, also called ‘Babita’ of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara. The two were, at the time travelling with Rajmattie who suffered a broken right leg; serious abrasions to the back, and dislodged teeth among other things. Kevin Williams suffered a fractured neck, injuries to his chest, back and hip, but his wife Babita who escaped with less serious injuries was treated at the Fort Wellington Hospital and discharged.
Meanwhile, those injured from Madray’s car, PFF 9723, were:  Kevin Persaud 22; his reputed wife, Rashana Gerawal 19, of  Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice; and Permaul Madray, also of Cotton Tree.  Both Gerawal and Kevin Persaud are said to be on the critical list.  Persaud suffered a broken jaw, severe injuries to the head and face, among other things, while Gerawal sustained injuries to the head, face and fractured limbs.
Following the accident, Kevin Persaud and Kevin Williams were immediately rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH); Rajmattie Persaud and Permal Madray were admitted to the New Amsterdam Hospital and Rashana Gerawal admitted to the Fort Wellington Hospital.  However, Gerawal was early yesterday morning transferred to the GPHC and by 17:30hrs, Rajmattie, the surviving motorist, was also transferred from New Amsterdam Hospital to the GPH.   Permaul Madray was last night the lone survivor warded at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Meanwhile, counting her blessings and thanking God for spared life, Rajmattie who is a mother of two – aged 12 and six is thankful that she did not take them along with her. She yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle that she informed her mother that she was going out with the Williams’ couple, and her mom suggested that she takes the children for the drive, since there were two vacant seats in the car.  However, Rajmattie said she was not up to it and they left without the children.
Reports are that vehicle PFF 9723, driving north along Number Two Public Road was  negotiating the bend in the vicinity of the Cotton Tree ‘ball field’, when the driver is believed to have lost control and collided with Persaud’s motor vehicle which was heading in the opposite direction.
Kevin Williams, speaking from his hospital bed, recalled that he had earlier in the evening taken his wife Babita and her boss, Sister Ramjattie Persaud, out to have a Mother’s Day dinner at Rosignol and it was while they were returning home that tragedy struck. Babita is employed at Persaud’s Internet Café.  The occupants of that motor car recalled that as they approached the turn at Cotton Tree, they spotted a motor car travelling in the opposite direction and that the vehicle was swaying badly. Persaud said she slowed down, but the car kept coming and it was difficult to determine what would be its next move.
“Then the next thing I know is that I was in the hospital,” Williams recounted, writhing in pain.   Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that three of the injured were pinned by one of the motor cars.
And relatives of the dead man, Ramal Madray, said they were returning from a ‘party’ they had attended on the West Coast Berbice earlier in the evening, but did not go into details.