By:D. Enoch Sandoe in Rivercess, Liberia
Concerns have again been raised in Liberia’s southeastern Rivercess County over the practice of using motorbike to transport corpses, as a 20- year-old commercial motorcyclist has died in an accident near Boedazah, while ferrying the corpse a woman.
Speaking in tears to newsman on the scene of the accident, the husband of the deceased woman Mardea Fai said that her remains were being transported by the motorcyclist identified as Lester Zeogar.
Willie Fai said the accident happened near Boedazah when the Zeogar’s bike collided head-on with another bike coming in opposite direction.
Following the accident, Lester Zeogar was rushed to the Dorbor Community Clinic in Garpue Town but was hours later pronounced dead by nurses at the facility.
While the other rider Jimmy Dossen and his girlfriend Patience Flomo heading from Zoryee Town to Gaytally Gold Mining Camp were being given first aid treatment by a Community Health Assistant in Boedazah Town
Participating on a local radio talk show in the county, several citizens condemned the act of carrying dead bodies on commercial motorcycle.
They called on the security, the Motorbike Unions and parents to discourage their children from carrying dead bodies on their bikes as dead bodies have traditional meaning and not all can touch dead bodies.
It has been observed in Rivercess that because of the bad road conditions and the easy access to vehicles, corpses are being transported on motorcycles from clinics or hospital to the dead person’s town or village for burial.