Police vehicle was ‘undertaking’ when schoolgirl was struck down on pedestrian crossing

Twelve-year-old Kayla Barnabas was struck down while on a pedestrian crossing by the police pickup that was undertaking a car at the time, eyewitnesses have related to the police, according to Regional Commander Mahendra Siwnarine.

The child was heading home from school and was crossing the road at Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara when she was struck down by the police pickup that was transporting prisoners.

The police corporal, who was behind the wheel, reportedly told investigators that he saw the young girl “too late,” according to Commander Siwnarine.

“A vehicle stopped and while [the child was] crossing, the police vehicle was transporting prisoners and they took from the inside and same time she [Kayla] passed in front of the vehicle.

“They saw her too late, they swerved right to avoid the collision but the front of the vehicle still hit her,” Commander Siwnarine told the News Room.

This version of the accident corroborates with what the young girl’s mother told the News Room on Thursday. Eyewitnesses did say that a vehicle stopped to allow the child to cross the road but the driver of the police pickup decided to undertake the car when he struck down the child.

Somatee Barnabas was waiting on her daughter to return home from school on Wednesday when she received the dreadful news.

The last thing Somatee told her daughter before she left for school that morning was to be careful on the road.

Meanwhile, the Commander also revealed that CCTV cameras did not capture the accident.

“We would have checked around but we didn’t receive anything to assist in any way; there are CCTV but most of them are focused on the businesses and the roadway but where the accident occurred, we would not have managed so far to get any footage,” the Commander told the News Room.

“I know that area usually have a heavy built up of traffic but I cannot say if they were speeding, but investigators will be able to determine that once we finish that investigation,” the Commander said.

Kayla, was a first form student of the West Demerara Secondary School.

She was the younger of two girls. Her mother said she was very intelligent and had secured marks to attend the St Joseph High School in Georgetown when she wrote her National Grade Six Assessment last year, however, the family could not afford to send her to a school in the city.

The police corporal remains under close arrest.