CN Sharma injured in accident outside station
Stabroek News
December 21, 2002
Proprietor of CNS Channel Six, Chandra Narine Sharma was yesterday morning struck down by a vehicle outside the studios of his television station at the junction of Robb and Wellington streets.
The host of the Voice of the People programme on CNS, Sharma, sustained a fractured right leg and minor injuries to his head and his hip, following the accident. He is now a patient at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital where he is in stable condition.
When Stabroek News arrived at the scene, a few minutes after the accident, which occurred at 9:25 am, a large crowd formed and encircled the vehicle which hit Sharma, a grey Nissan Primera, PGG 4585, registered to the Guyana Fire Service. The driver of the vehicle, a fireman, said to be the driver of the GFS Fire Chief, was still seated in the vehicle at the time as the vehicle was surrounded.
According to eyewitnesses, Sharma was standing at the door of his vehicle, which was parked on the northern side of Robb Street, directly across the street from the CNS studios, when the vehicle struck him.
Upon being hit, Sharma was lifted into the air and thrown some ten to twelve feet on the road, while the vehicle came to rest in front of the entrance to the CNS Studios.
The lower left corner of the vehicle's front windscreen was shattered where the vehicle is believed to have struck Sharma.
Eyewitnesses said that the car was travelling at a fast rate which they said was evident since the driver could not brake in time to avoid hitting the Voice of the People host.
Sharma, is said to have gotten up, held his back and then fallen to the ground. He was then rushed to the hospital.
The driver of the vehicle, told traffic police summoned to investigate the incident that he had been driving east along Robb Street when Sharma, who had just shut the door of his own vehicle, ran in front of the car. He said he swerved to avoid the television host but could not avoid hitting him.
Speaking with Stabroek News from his hospital bed at St Joseph Mercy Hospital, Sharma related that he had just crossed over to his vehicle and was opening the door when he was hit by the speeding car. He said he was flung into the air and ended up under the car.
He related that he had seen the car speeding down Robb Street but had expected the driver to slow down as he approached the intersection at Wellington Street.
Sharma, whose leg was in a cast, also related that his family was urging him to shut down the television station out of growing concern for his safety after he had been threatened on numerous occasions. Sharma has been assaulted several times.
Only minutes before the accident there was a small group of persons assembled outside the studio to protest the 48-hour suspension of the licences of CNS and NBTV Channel Nine, by Prime Minster Samuel Hinds. (Andre Haynes)
