A former Berkeley head boy killed in a traffic collision this weekend has been hailed as a Bermudian gem.

Uthmani Talbot, 24, from Smiths, died on Saturday morning as a result of injuries suffered in a traffic collision on Harrington Sound Road.

According to police, Mr Talbot was travelling east along the road at around 3.20am when it is believed he lost control of his motorcycle, striking a parked car and a wall east of the Harrington Sound Primary School.

A police spokesman said he was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by ambulance, but was pronounced dead by an on call doctor at 3.45am. His death is the ninth on Bermuda’s roads this year.

Acting principal for the Berkeley Institute Keisha Douglas said Mr Talbot was a “beautiful young man, through and through” who epitomised what the head boy of a school should be.

“Uthmani was always on the top of his game, academically and socially,” she said. “He was a leader of his peers, he was kind and respectful. He was one of those young men that any mother with a son would want her son to be like him, and I don’t say that lightly.

“He always had a smile on his face, he was never in trouble. He was a wonderful young man. Bermuda has truly lost a gem.”

And Senator Diallo Rabain said the loss of Mr Talbot will be felt by the entire Harris Bay Community.

“As a close knit community, we are all pretty much known to each other as we have watched successive generations grow up and contribute back to the community,” he said.

“This is a particularly painful loss as Uthmani was so young and just starting to begin his life. To lose so much potential in this fashion will be no doubt felt throughout the Devil’s Hole Community.

“Words cannot begin to offer enough sympathy for such a loss and my heart goes out to the family and the community in this time of need.”

Mr Talbot served as Berkeley Institute’s head boy in the 2006/07 school year and earned numerous scholarships and academic awards, including the Ross Blackie Talbot Education Award, the Jupiter Scholarship and a Bank of Bermuda Foundation scholarship. He graduated from George Mason University’s School of Management in Virginia, and had been working at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr Talbot was also an avid footballer, playing with the X’Roads Warriors and acting as the team’s treasurer.

Bermuda Football Association President Larry Mussenden said last night that the loss of Mr Talbot was a blow to the Bermuda football community.

“Not only was he involved with the X’Roads football club as a player, but he was getting involved in the administration of the club and the future of the X’Roads club,” he said. “And he was more than a lover of football, but a talented young person who showed dedication in everything that he did.

“We know that his family was very proud of him, and we know his memory will live on through the X’Roads club and also through his family and those whose lives he touched.”

Following the news of his death, the Bermuda Football Association postponed a scheduled match between the Ireland Rangers and the X’Roads Warriors and requested that match officials, teams and fans observe moments of silence before games played on Sunday in honour of Mr Talbot.

Carlton Crockwell, Chairman of the Road Safety Council, also expressed his condolences to Mr Talbot’s family yesterday, saying his prayers are with the family.

Mr Talbot is survived by his parents, Saleem and Tasleen Talbot and siblings Saleem, Jibreel, Khomecni, Thaaqib, Attiya and Taqwa.

His funeral is scheduled to take place at the Bermuda Islamic Cultural Centre on Harrington Sound Road at 2pm today.

Anyone with information into the fatal crash is urged to contact the Roads Policing Unit on 295-0011.