– alcohol allegedly responsible for the accident

WHAT started out as a celebration ended fatally for 18-year-old Nikil Persaud of Lot 9 Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara, late Sunday evening when the vehicle in which he was travelling overturned on the Vriesland public road, West Bank Demerara.Persaud, a former student of Patentia Secondary School, had been an accountant at AINLIM. He was reportedly hitching a ride in PLL 4632 when the driver, identified as ‘Kevin Kubir’, lost control of the vehicle and it eventually overturned in a drain. Kubir has reportedly been detained by police after Persaud’s body had been transported to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Vriesland residents who quickly gathered at the scene recall hearing the tortured screeching of a vehicle braking and the agonising sound of a crash.

Public-spirited citizens rushed to the scene and quickly lifted the vehicle to rescue the duo. Kubir, who was cushioned by his air bag, was able to crawl out of the vehicle, while Persaud had to be lifted out.

Kubir rushed for an ambulance, which promptly responded. However several onlookers had to plead with the ambulance driver to take Persaud to the hospital, as the driver claimed that Persaud was not breathing and asserted that he does not transport dead bodies.

Kubir had apparently offered Persaud a ride as he was driving his brother-in-law’s car, which he had borrowed earlier in the evening to drop his wife home. Kubir had been coming from a birthday celebration in Vriesland.

The vehicle’s owner, who presented himself at the scene shortly after the accident, admitted that he was intoxicated, but said he could not answer for Kubir’s state of sobriety, when questioned by police officers who arrived on the scene.

Residents allege that the ill-fated vehicle had been speeding at the time of the accident. It first slammed into a parked Toyota AT 170 belonging to Vriesland resident, Brian Bissoon, before landing some distance away in front of the yard of one resident, whose only given name was Gopaul.

Persaud had sustained multiple injuries and could be seen gasping for breath; but he stopped gasping shortly before the ambulance arrived.

Another resident who helped to pull Persaud from the vehicle recollected the situation when he came: “I was watching TV and I hear the impact; and when I come, I only see one guy pin down. And them man raise up the car and I pull he out. All by he neck did cut up and them thing,” the resident said.

Persaud’s uncle, Phillip Garib, told the Chronicle he got the tragic news at around 10:30 pm on Sunday.

“He (Nikil) was walking on the road to a party and the friend (Kubir) see he on the road and pick he up. He was driving recklessly, and the car collide with a stationary car and topple over,” Garib said as he related what was relayed to him about his nephew’s demise.

Persaud’s emotional cousin Paulina Ann Garib remembers her cousin, as an inspiration and said: “My cousin is one of my inspirations. He is rather intelligent when it comes to maths, not so good in English…. He is a fighter, never a quitter. He has a big heart, loves to share and always willing to lend a hand,” Paulina said.

Persaud leaves to mourn two sisters and his father.

(Tamica Garnett)