Victim’s mom sues truck company

A FYZABAD woman is seeking damages from a truck driver and the trucking company which owned the 25-foot long trailer involved in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of her son and his fiancee ten years ago. Shakunti Ramnarine Singh, of Siparia Road, has brought the action against truck driver Hajarie Doorgan and his former employers Central Trucking Company Limited, of McBean Village, Couva. The company is owned by Kawal Lakhan. Singh’s son, businessman Dianan Ramesar, 32, of Siparia Road, Fyzabad, and his fianc? Caryll Kangaloo, 29, were killed on the night of February 21, 1993, after their car slammed into the back of a trailer on the south-bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway near Freeport flyover. Kangaloo was the sister of Appeal Court judge Justice Wendell Kangaloo and daughter of former San Fernando mayor Carlyle Kangaloo. Doorgan and Central Trucking Company Lim-ited are represented by Avery Sinanan, while Singh is represented by Ernest Koylass.

The plaintiff told Justice Gregory Smith in Third Civil Court of the San Fernando Assizes on Friday that her son was a “kind and polite person who did the best he could for his family. He tell me he was going out with his girlfriend. He went to party but I don’t know which party he went to. He was never a drinker,” Singh said. Former principal of St Stephen’s College Clifford De Coteau, who witnessed the accident, said he was a back-seat passenger in a car driving on the right lane, while Ramesar’s car was on the left lane. He said he saw the back of the trailer only moments before the crash but did not notice if there were reflectors on the back of it. He recalled that Ramesar’s car was abreast of the one in which he was a passenger, and “within a flash” the vehicle was wedged under the trailer. “The tail lights were not lighting properly because they were not working that night,” De Coteau testified. Another witness, Joseph Bona, of Carolina Village, Couva, a maintenance and mechanic worker at Central Trucking Company Limited, said the truck which Doorgan  was driving was fitted with headlights, a revolving lamp, two lights on either side of the rear and a light over the number plate, while the trailer had lights to rear on both sides, another over the number plate, and reflectors on both sides. He recalled that hours before the fatal crash, at around 4.30 pm Doorgan drove into the company’s yard and checked the fuel, oil, and the lighting systems of the truck but did not report any problems on the vehicle. Bona testified that the back of the trailer was dusty, adding that was normal during the crop time. The case continues on Monday.