MARK Wells of Kumaka Water Front, Mabaruma, is now dead, while others are hospitalised, after a motor lorry they were travelling in ‘turned turtle’ along the Yarakaita Access Road, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini).

According to police reports, the vehicle was driven by a 27-year-old man, and there were two occupants in the cab and three in the tray of the canter.

Those persons in the tray were identified as 17-year-old Leroy Chu, 35-year-old Edwin King and 26-year-old Wells, who died as a result of the accident.

Reports are that, around 17:50hrs on Sunday, the driver was proceeding west along the Yarakaita Access Road, reportedly at a fast rate of speed, when the steering arm of the vehicle, which was reportedly defective, became loose and caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and slam into a mud wall (baranka) on the northern side of the road. The impact caused the vehicle to spin around and topple.

As a result of the collision, the three occupants in the tray were pitched into the air and onto the roadway.
Wells received laceration to the right ankle and abrasions to his left shoulder and about his body. King received abrasions about his body and Chu received lacerations to the left side of his head and left ankle, and an abrasion to his left shoulder.

Public-spirited citizens rushed to the assistance of the victims and found Wells and King in an unconscious state. The men were then picked up by an ambulance and taken to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital, where Wells was pronounced dead on arrival. The body of the deceased is at the hospital’s mortuary awaiting a post mortem examination.

King and Chu were examined and admitted as patients suffering from fractured right ribs and an open fracture to the right ankle, respectively. King is listed as critical, while Chu is stable.

Police said that a notice of intended prosecution was served on the driver who is in police custody, as investigations continue.