Two more die in another road crash

The total road fatalities for the year moved to 127 early yesterday when a 24-year-old lab technician and his 27-year-old cousin were killed instantly while returning from witnessing the fireworks display at the Queen’s Park Savannah. Their deaths bring to four the number of persons killed between Saturday and yesterday.

On Saturday, Aknath Basdeo, 22, was killed in a crash at Manzanilla while his wife Rafena was injured and listed in critical condition. Basdeo’s relative Sally Kistow was also killed. A “bad drive” is reported to have been responsible for those two deaths in the three-car smash-up. The accident early yesterday occurred around 3.15 am along the southbound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway in the vicinity of the Carlsen Field Hindu temple. The victims were identified as Selwyn Baptiste, 24, and Ben Baptiste, 27, of Chickland Village, Carapichaima. Reports revealed that Baptiste (Selwyn) tried to avoid hitting another car after receiving a “bad drive” and struck a lamp post. All four occupants were thrown out of the vehicle from the impact causing instant death to the two young men. Pulmatie Gopie, a 26-year-old teacher, and Shawn Tookai, 24, a trainee lab techician, suffered serious injuries. Up until late yesterday, the two were listed in serious condition at the San Fernando General Hospital. At Carapichaima yesterday, Jacob Baptiste, Selwyn’s father, said that his son was employed as a lab technician at Caribbean Ceramics, located in Longdenville. He said that his son went to see the fireworks display each year at the Queen’s Park Savannah and on Sunday when he left home, he never knew that it would have been the last time that he would be seeing him alive.

According to the grieving Jacob, he was asleep early yesterday when he received a telephone call from a relative who informed him that Selwyn was involved in an accident at Chase Village. He said that when he rushed to the scene, he saw the body of his son lying in the roadway while close by, the almost lifeless body of Ben lay on the roadway. As tears streamed down his face, Jacob said that his son was a friendly, outgoing person who was loved by everyone who knew him. Francis Baptiste, Ben’s father, was too distraught to be interviewed but he described his son as a good person. He said that Ben, who was also known as Tyrone, had written a letter to a relative recently and claimed that he had a sign that he would be killed after his 27th birthday. The car, a mangled wreck, was at the Freeport Police Station yesterday. The funeral for Selwyn and Ben will take place tomorrow at their respective homes and then to the St Mary’s RC Church for the service. Officers of the Freeport Police Station led by Sgt Deo Duncan and Cpl Satnarine are investigating.