Derek Achong

In­ves­ti­ga­tions are con­tin­u­ing in­to an ac­ci­dent in Mara­cas/St Joseph on Tues­day which left a nine-year-old pri­ma­ry school pupil in a co­ma and the dri­ver of the car dead. Ac­cord­ing to po­lice re­ports, at around 3.30 pm, Patrice Granger, 9, and her sis­ter Stephanie Granger, 8, both of Wa­ter­fall Road, Mara­cas/St Joseph, were hit by an on­com­ing ve­hi­cle while at­tempt­ing to cross Mara­cas Roy­al Road, near their home. Min­utes be­fore the ac­ci­dent, the girls, who at­tend the Mara­cas Sev­enth Day Ad­ven­tist Pri­ma­ry School, were dropped at the lo­ca­tion by a maxi taxi.

The girls' moth­er, who was stand­ing across the road wait­ing on them to cross, was said to have wit­nessed the ac­ci­dent. The girls were tak­en to Er­ic Williams Med­ical Sci­ences Com­plex, Mt Hope, where Stephanie re­ceived treat­ment and was lat­er dis­charged, while Patrice re­mained ward­ed in a co­ma up to late yes­ter­day. Po­lice said that when they vis­it­ed the scene, the dri­ver of the Maz­da 626 ve­hi­cle, In­nis Charles, of Mara­cas Roy­al Road, Mara­cas, St Joseph, com­plained of chest pains. Charles was tak­en to Med­ical As­so­ciates Hos­pi­tal, St Joseph, where he was pro­nounced dead on ar­rival.