FOUR protesters were arrested by police yesterday during a raucous demonstration at Ravine Sable, Longdenville, where villagers blocked the roads to prevent speeding dump-trucks from getting to the sand quarries.

The protests were a reaction to Monday's accident where a six-year-old boy was run over by a truck on his way home from school.

Little Keegan Gomez's leg was crushed, but doctors believe it can be saved. The boy is listed in critical condition at the Mt Hope Medical Sciences Complex.

The driver of the truck that hit Keegan told police he was heading out of the village around 2.45 p.m., when he saw a mini-bus stop in the distance in the opposite lane.

The driver said as he neared, the boy darted from the back of the bus and was struck by the truck. Residents threatened to beat the man on the scene, the Express was told.

They were angry that despite many complaints about the trucks speeding through the village, accidents were frequent, and people could not safely walk or bike along the sand-covered roads.

Two villagers were charged with using obscene language and blocking the roads.

In Ravine Sable two weeks ago, truck-driver Sharma Keith Sieuchan tried to poison his two children before killing himself.

Central Division Senior Superintendent Rattan Singh said residents were concerned about the speed and wanted humps placed along the road to slow the trucks.

Singh said police would attempt to meet villagers today to lobby the traffic management department to put down the speed bumps. Villagers, however, want nothing to do with the police.

At nightfall yesterday, burning blockades were erected along the road again, this time prompting a massive response, with at least 13 police vehicles transporting police and soldiers into the village east of Chaguanas.

Spokesperson Ricardo St Cyr said the truck that struck Keegan was speeding and could not stop in time.

"Now the boy may lose one limb and fighting to keep the other. And today when we tried to slow down the trucks, the drivers abused us, laughed at us. So we took action, blocking the road," he said.

St Cyr said the police beat and arrested several villagers who did nothing but protest their inaction.

Never before, he said, had the village seen such a rapid response from police to anything in the area.

The police were accused of taking away one woman whose clothing was ripped off during her arrest, and with striking another on the arm, possibly breaking a bone.

Two of the detainees are the aunt and uncle of Keegan, the Express was told. Residents plan to intensify the protest today.