Man killed on Demerara bridge after runaway truck slams vehicles

-Edghill says errant lorry was defective

A truck rolling backwards on the incline of the Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge yesterday smashed into vehicles killing 24-year-old Scott Jacob Dorwart and injuring his passenger.

It has been confirmed that the truck was at the time being driven by a driver who is not “properly licensed” to operate, and that the truck was defective.

In a statement last night, the Police said they were probing the accident which occurred about 9.45 am on the southern carriageway of the bridge, killing Dorwart of Grove, East Bank Demerara. The driver and the owner of the truck are in police custody.  It was the first traffic fatality since the bridge opened on October 5th last year.

The police said that preliminary investigations revealed that motor lorry GAC 296, driven by a 23-year-old male of Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara, was proceeding west along the northern driving lane of the southern carriageway of the bridge when it reportedly experienced mechanical failure, came to a halt and subsequently rolled backwards, resulting in a series of collisions with vehicles travelling behind on the same carriageway.