A ROUTE 41 (Norton/South) minibus toppled into a drain on Friday morning after almost colliding with another minibus operating in Route 42, causing injuries to several persons.
Those injured were passengers of the Route 41 minibus, BWW 1782, which was transporting 14 persons at the time of the accident. An eyewitness recounted that the Route 41 minibus was proceeding east along Norton Street approaching the Cemetery Road junction, while the Route 42 minibus, BVV 6909, was travelling south along Cemetery Road.

According to the eyewitness, despite a speed bump and stop sign indicating to the Route 42 minibus that it needed to yield to oncoming traffic on Norton Street, the driver of the bus proceeded across the road. “I was right down deh,” she said, while pointing a few houses away from where the accident took place. “And I see the South bus was coming down Norton Street with another bus behind him. When he [the Route 41 minibus driver] meet to Cemetery Road, he saw the bus coming and he blowing his horn but like the bus driver [Route 42] ain’t hear he because he windows was wind up. The [Route 41] driver had to swerve and he hit a pole and that’s how he ended up in the gutter,” the eyewitness said.

She noted that while several persons were injured and some bloodied, no one appeared gravely injured.

“People were crying. A young lady was crying for her heart, and another lady she couldn’t walk because of her foot,” the eyewitness recollected. The driver of the Route 41 bus, Anthony Chester, who walked away unscathed, was present at the scene and noted that he blew his horn on the other driver as he approached the intersection, however, the Route 42 minibus continued to proceed.

Chester stated that he had communication difficulties with the occupants of the Route 42 minibus. “I get hit and pushed into the trench; there was nothing more I could do. He hit and he just keep coming. I tried to talk to the driver [after the accident] but he [didn’t speak English]. There were about six of them [in the Route 42 bus], but none of them seems to know any English,” the 49-year-old relayed.

Guyana Chronicle also spoke with a passenger of the Route 41 bus who also gave a similar recount of the incident. The injured persons were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment.