Onlookers at the area where the truck slid off the Demerara Harbour Bridge into the river.

Woman killed as truck topples off Harbour Bridge

The Canter being lifted out of the Demerara River

– husband survives

 

An early Sunday morning trip for two vendors turned tragic when the Canter truck in which they were travelling plunged off the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), resulting in the death of the mother of one.

Dead is Gangaday Persaud, 22, of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. Her husband, known as “Rio” survived and was taken into Police custody to assist with investigations.

According to reports, the couple were travelling on the Harbour Bridge in the retractor span area (where there are no rails) at about 05:00h when the husband noticed a bag of boulangers (eggplant) had fallen off the tray. Reports are that the man attempted to turn around the Canter to retrieve the sack when he lost control. This resulted in it toppling over the bridge and into the Demerara River.

Eyewitnesses said the bridge was wet and as such when the driver lost control the truck skidded and ended in the river.

It must be noted that U-turns, overtaking and reversing are prohibited on the DHB. Both man and wife went overboard with the Canter. However, the husband managed to free himself before the truck went too deep underwater, but his wife got pinned down under the vehicle.

Guyana Times understands that the couple was transporting goods and vegetables to Georgetown and Plaisance, where they normally conducted business at the markets.

A relative told this newspaper that she received a call from another relative informing them of the accident.

“I got a call from my cousin and he told me about the accident. I don’t know much of what happened. Just that he fell over in the river and that the truck fell from her side, so he managed to climb out but he couldn’t save her because she went under the truck,” the relative stated.

At the scene of the accident, family members were in utter shock. The mother of the deceased was crying uncontrollably and had to be taken away because she was fainting frequently.

Woman perishes after husband reverses off Demerara Harbour Bridge

By: Romila Boodram

The lifeless body of a 22-year-old woman was pulled from a submerged canter truck in the Demerara River several hours after it plunged off the Demerara Harbour Bridge early yesterday morning. The body of 22-year old Gangadai Persaud was recovered around 10:00 hours after painstaking efforts by divers who had to brave high tides and strong current to get to it after it got stuck between the two front seats. Persaud, a mother of a 10-month-old baby resided at Lot 4210 Tuschen Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara (WCD). Her husband, whose name has been given as Danram Ramdeo Ramlall, 26, managed to free himself while under the water. Up to late yesterday, he was in police custody assisting with the investigation.

Dead: Gangadai Persaud

The tragic incident occurred when Ramlall attempted to turn the truck around on the Harbour Bridge but apparently made a big misjudgement instead and reversed off the open side of the structure. The Canter truck, bearing registration GEE 4540, reversed off the eleventh span of the bridge around 04:45 hrs just as the couple was heading to La Penitence and Plaisance Markets to wholesale greens. According to information received from an eyewitness, Mark Henry, the driver was heading in the easternly direction on the bridge when a bag, containing Boulangers fell from the back of his truck. He said that because it was early, there were hardly any vehicles on the bridge and he attempted to turn around by the retractor span area, where there are no rails, to retrieve the bag. “While he trying to turn, I turn to the guy who was in the vehicle with me and said, watch wah going on hey.” By the time I say that, the man back wheel went over and was overboard he reach,” Henry explained. He recalled that he stopped his vehicle and ran towards the area where the truck went off but of course, there wasn’t anything he could have done since the vehicle was already going under the water. “I started shouting for help, and like five minutes after I see he (truck driver) come out from under the water and he was holding onto a wire and he said that his wife alone in the Canter,” the eyewitness said.

Relatives of the woman gathered at the bridge

The canter being pulled from the water

He added that he hurried to the other side of the bridge and alerted the police to what had happened. General Manager of the Demerara Habour Bridge (DHB) Rawlston Adams said that the truck driver provided the Bridge Supervisor, who was on duty at the time, with a different version of what transpired early yesterday. Adams said the driver related that it was raining and he fell asleep and the vehicle went overboard. But the General Manager explained that when the divers located the vehicle, it was discovered that the truck went off “back first because the front was up (under the water) and the back was down.” Yesterday, the woman’s relatives gathered at the bridge and patiently watched while some wept as the divers tried to locate her body. Her mother, Anjalie Persaud, who was screaming and crying, said that her son called and informed her that Gangadai and her husband were overboard in the truck. “When I come, I see my son-in-law on the pontoon and I asked he what happened to my daughter and he said that he tried to get her out but he couldn’t,” the woman lamented. She added that her daughter could not swim. According to the older Persaud, her daughter would usually drop off greens for her to sell at La Penitence Market. “She was coming to drop my greens,” the woman shouted before bursting into tears. The 22-year-old woman leaves to mourn her baby, husband, parents and siblings.

What a way to go, sad. Some recklessness perhaps by the husband.