POLICE are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at 09:42hrs on Thursday on the Friendship public road, East Bank Demerara, which resulted in the death of a 77-year-old man.

The accident involved motor lorry #GAE 5317, driven by Aubrey Herman Lim, a 37-year-old from Timehri, and motor jeep #PLL 8152, driven by Mike Dasrat (now deceased), a 77-year-old from Lot 24 Brickery, East Bank Demerara.

Enquiries disclosed that the lorry was proceeding north along the western drive lane of Friendship public road, while the jeep was proceeding south along the eastern drive lane of the said road.

The lorry driver told investigators that he was in the vicinity of Friendship Secondary School when he noticed the driver of the jeep (approaching from the opposite direction) swerved into his lane and continued to proceed further south in front of him.

On seeing this, the lorry driver said he applied brakes, swerved westward and stopped to avoid a collision with the jeep. However, due to the short braking distance, the jeep collided head-on with the lorry.

As a result of the impact, the driver of the jeep received injuries on his body. The Ambulance Service was summoned, which arrived shortly after at the scene with a team of Emergency Medical Technicians, who took the injured driver from his vehicle, placed him into the Ambulance in an unconscious condition and conveyed him to Diamond Public Hospital. There, he was seen and examined by a doctor on duty and later succumbed to his injuries at 10:34 hrs, while receiving treatment, and without regaining consciousness.

The body is at the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, awaiting a post-mortem examination. A Notice of Intended Prosecution was prepared and served on the lorry driver who was also breathalysed and the results showed he had no trace of alcohol in his system.

Investigations are ongoing. (GPF)