The families of the six persons who were killed in an early morning West Coast Berbice crash are reeling from shock and grief as police try to figure out exactly what went wrong.
Regional Commander Kurleigh Simon has indicated that while they have determined and identified the fatalities and injured, his ranks are still piecing together the details of who or what caused the accident.
Three vehicles are reported to have collided on the Plantation Ross Public Road, West Coast Berbice, early Saturday.
Those killed have been identified as 28-year-old Joel Jacobs of Sophia, Georgetown; 22-year-old Jamol Lynch of Hopetown, West Coast Berbice; 23-year-old Lindon McFarlane of Belair, West Coast Berbice; 19-year-old Jashawn Saul of Belair, West Coast Berbice; Keanna Dow of Belladrum, West Coast Berbice and Gary Blair of Turkeyen. Three others were injured and have been identified as Fiona Massiah, Akeem Solomon and Brian Goodridge.
At the home of Jamol Lynch in Hopetown, his sister Timika Williams told reporters that her brother would have celebrated his 22nd birthday today and the yard would have been filled with friends and relatives for a celebration.
Instead, they have been left with only grief.
She said Lynch was out with his friends McFarlane and Saul at a party in the village on Friday. Just about two hours after midnight, Lynch dropped his bicycle home since McFarlane was going to drive him and Saul to another party in the village of Lichfield.
They never made it. All three were killed.
Williams said when she got the call she could not believe that it was true and that she is still in a state of shock about the loss of her brother.
She described him as “one of the most loving person you could ever think of.” Fighting her tears, Williams said her brother was a quiet person that didn’t talk a lot.
“He would be in this house and won’t say anything, but my daughter adored him.
“He was very loving.”
Lynch lived a few streets away from his friend Jashawn Saul.
At Saul’s home, his parents, sisters and other relatives were still trying to come to grips with his death.
His mother, Marva Saul, 57, said she got a call from her daughter-in-law sometime after 05:00 hrs Saturday asking if her son had returned home.
It was then that Mrs Saul was told that two of her son’s friends were in an accident.
Immediately, knew her son too had to have been involved “because he is always with Jamol.”
She said her son celebrated his 19th birthday in September and that he was a jovial person who loved going to parties.
The three men had another of their friends with them partying that Friday night – Carlon Semple – but he left for home around midnight since he had to work on Saturday.
He said he is devastated that he lost his friends but he considers himself lucky since he too could have died.
Vincent Jacobs, the father of Joel Jacobs of Sophia, said his son was a passenger in the X-trail owned and driven by Gary Blair.
Jacobs said his son has been living and working in Georgetown for some time. It wasn’t until he got the call sometime around 04:30 hrs Saturday that he knew his son was in Berbice.
He immediately went to the scene but was told that his son had died and the body was at the Fort Wellington Hospital.
When the News Room visited the scene of the crash just after noon Saturday, debris from the cars involved was still strewn about the public road and bloodstains were left on several parts of the parapet.
The burnt and mangled debris of PNN 3536 was still at the scene. That car was driven by Lindon McFarlane with passengers Lynch and Saul.
A tow truck was lifting away the badly damaged red X-trail bearing license plate number PYY 4293 owned and driven by Blair. Keanna Dow, Joel Jacobs and a fourth person who suffered injuries were in that vehicle.
The third vehicle involved had already been taken away to the Weldaad Police Statio; two persons were injured in that vehicle.
