West Barnstable, MA : Cyclist dies in late night West Barnstable crash on Wednesday night, July 30, 2014

A 21-year-old foreign student who had come to the Cape to work this summer was killed late Wednesday night when his bicycle was struck by a car on Route 132.

Yelmur Samarkham, from the Republic of Kazakhstan, was riding toward Hyannis on Route 132 at about 11:09 p.m. as a motorist was pulling onto the road coming from Route 6 eastbound.

The driver looked left to merge onto Route 132, but did not see Samarkham, said Barnstable Sgt. Thomas Twomey.

Samarkham struck the windshield of the car and was pronounced dead at Cape Cod Hospital, Twomey said.

At the scene, police officers diverted traffic around the accident area and the mangled bicycle.

No charges have been filed against the motorist, who had to be taken to Cape Cod Hospital for observation because she was so distraught, Twomey said.

Samarkham was here on a J-1 visas, said his girlfriend, who asked that the Times not name her.

The J-1 is a visa designed to foster cultural exchange and allows university students to come to the United States to work for four months. Thousands of J-1 visa holders work for Cape businesses during the busy tourist season.

When his girlfriend, who is also from Kazakhstan, arrived home late Wednesday night, she noticed that Samarkham, who worked at Burger King at Route 6 and Route 132, had not come home. After text messaging him several times and receiving no response, she rode around the neighborhood on her bicycle before driving with a friend to his job.

On the way, she saw the accident scene and was told by police that Samarkham was at the hospital. After an hour sitting in the waiting room, a doctor came out of the operating room and told her that Samarkham had died, she said Wednesday.

"Now I need help," she said while crying. "I'm alone here."

The woman, who speaks very little English, said she asked to see Samarkham, but wasn't allowed because she is not a family member. Now she is waiting for his parents to arrive, but is not sure how long it will take them to get visas. Kazakhstan is one of the former Soviet republics, bordering both Russia and China.

The Rev. Catherine Boyle of the Mid-Cape Worship Center is the director of a J-1 housing program and assists summer workers.

She said that Samarkham was one of about 2,500 J-1 students here this summer and many of them use bicycles as their sole means of transportation.


Samarkham is not the first to have died in a bike accident while here.

In June 2012, a 20-year-old woman from the Dominican Republic was struck and killed at Route 28 and Pitcher's Way. Sheila Moreta, who was also here on a J-1 visa, had just finished her shift at Wendy's and was riding home at 2 a.m.

Moreta's death and an increase in bike accidents over the past few years sparked a conversation about bicycle safety among local public safety and county officials.

In June, Barnstable County and the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority launched a Regional Bike Safety Education and Awareness Campaign.

Each town's police department has been planning and scheduling community bike safety workshops, distributing bike route maps provided by CCRTA, printed safety rules. lights and reflective tape to J-1 workers, according to the county website.

Maps have already been distributed to some of the workers at beach parties sponsored by the Cape Cod Council of Churches.

Boyle said that the events have been effective but more needs to be done.

"We seem to have someone seriously injured or killed every year," she said. "What I'm hoping and praying for is (the CCRTA) to add more buses at night."

Inna Taylor works with Boyle to organize events for J-1 students and said said she is heartbroken by Samarkham's death. She said she wishes there were a way to get reflectors and helmets to all of the J-1 workers.

"He is extremely intelligent and polite ... and careful. I was just telling him he's the future of his country," she said.

A fund to help pay for Samarkham's family's travel expenses has been set up in his name at Citizens Bank on Route 134 in South Dennis.

Source :
Cyclist dies in late night West Barnstable crash