Road deaths move to 112

MICHAEL BOODOO, the driver of a grey Galant car and a male passenger in the front seat were killed instantly when the car skidded off the roadway and crashed into a tree. The driver who was thrown onto the busy Churchill Roosevelt Highway, close to Andrew Lane, Mausica, was killed instantly while the front seat passenger was pinned to his seat. His body was removed by a team of fire officers led by Fire Station Officer Telesford who cut away the vehicle to free the body. He was identified as Leon Goodridge of Silver Mill Road, San Juan. The two deaths caused the road fatality rate to move to 112 persons killed in road deaths for the year so far. Three other passengers in the vehicle, Richard Samlal,18, the cousin of freed kidnap victim Mark Samlal, who was kidnapped along with his girlfriend Kendra Kissoon from San Juan two weeks ago, Mario Flores, 19, and Carlos Flores 18, of Santa Cruz Old Road, who were seated in the back seat of the car, were rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital by Emergency Health Services (EHS) officers. They were all listed in serious condition.

Checks with the Port-of-Spain General Hospital revealed that the three suffered cuts, bruises and head injuries. Reports revealed that around 2.30 pm, the five occupants of the car were on their way to the Mayaro Beach, when on reaching Andrew Lane, about 500 yards from the Mausica Road, Boodoo lost control of the car which picked up a skid, crossed the highway, and crashed into a tree planted in the middle of the median. Inside the car, a cooler with Heineken beers remained strewn over the vehicle. Both bodies were viewed by District Medical Officer Dr Emmanuel Hosein and ordered removed to the Port-of-Spain Mortuary. A party of officers led by Inspector Wesley Moore and including officers of the Arima Police Station went to the scene and carried out inquiries. The two fatalities caused a massive traffic pile up. Relatives of Samlal were contacted by Newsday at their home and they expressed relief that Richard was only injured. The Samlal family owns Shannon’s Bakery in San Juan, while at the home of the Flores family, a relative expressed shock at the incident. Ag Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs was informed of the two deaths by Ag ACP Crime Nazamul Hosein.