Cyclist dies in head-on crash

A Morvant cyclist became the nation’s 128th road fatality Tuesday night. Around 6.50 pm, Ryan Folkes, 47, had just left his Wallace Street home in Morvant and was riding west along Chinapoo Road, when he collided with a car driven by fellow villager Wilburn Samuel. When Newsday spoke to Samuel, he said he was heading east on the street when he saw Folkes, whom he knew, riding down his side of the road at top speed. Samuel pulled to the other side of the road and Folkes pulled into the same direction and rode into the car, throwing Folkes against the windscreen. When Newsday visited the scene, police confirmed the driver’s statement after speaking with neighbours and investigating the marks on the road.

Folkes’ brother, Anthony, also accepted the explanation, saying his brother normally wore a helmet, but did not on this occasion. Cpl Samuel of the Morvant Police Station is investigating. Meanwhile, Arima police are still investigating the circumstances under which the owner of the Sneakers Machine chain of shoe stores met his death Tuesday afternoon. Indar Bachan crashed into a culvert along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway near the Mausica Road intersection. The father of three had only returned to the country one day before he was killed. Efforts to speak to Bachan’s family have proved futile. Cpl Joyeau is investigating.