SOMATTIE PERSAUD, 39, a fish vendor of Lot 75 Mandal Street, Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara (WCD), died on Saturday, after she was struck down on the Zeeburg Public Road by a 44-year-old contractor who, allegedly, fell asleep ‘on the wheel’.
Reports indicated that Persaud, who was on a bicycle, was riding west on the southern side of the Zeeburg Public Road while the motor car was proceeding in the said direction behind her, at a normal rate of speed, when the driver reportedly fell asleep and drove into her.
As the driver came out from his vehicle, he observed that he had crashed into a concrete fence on the southern side of the said road, and a female with a pedal cycle was lying on the southern grass parapet, motionless, with injuries about her body.
The driver was assisted by a passerby who took the woman to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where she was seen and examined by a doctor on duty. She died while receiving treatment.
Her body was taken to Ezekiel Mortuary for storage and post mortem.
The driver was arrested and is in custody. A breathalyzer test was conducted on him but no trace of alcohol was found in his breath.