3 killed in Gran Couva crash

Three persons, including two teenagers, died on the spot yesterday when the  van in which they were travelling skidded off the road and overturned in a ditch at Gran Couva.

Dead are the driver of the ill-fated van Madoo Ramlal, 44, Luke Rampersad, 19, and Sheldon Siewnarine, 15 of Poona Road, Williamsville. A one-year-old baby boy who was seated with relatives in the tray of the van suffered minor injuries, while six others were treated for serious injuries at the Couva Hospital. Reports revealed that around 2 pm yesterday, the 10 occupants of the van left their Williamsville home and were heading towards Waterfall Road, Gran Couva, where they had planned to spend a quiet afternoon, bathing in the river and cooking in a makeshift fireside at the edge of the river.

According to an eyewitness, the driver of the van was proceeding west along the Corossal Road, when the vehicle picked up a skid, overturned and ended up in a ditch. The eyewitness claimed that  he was standing at the side of the roadway when he witnessed the incident. Villagers of Gran Couva ran to the area of the accident and attempted to pull the injured from the overturned van. Fire Officers were also summoned to the scene. Reports revealed that the one-year-old child was the first to be pulled out from the overturned van. He appeared unhurt, but six of his relatives suffered cuts, bruises and broken bones.

A further check revealed that the driver and the two teenagers who were seated next to the driver appeared to be dead. The three were removed from the blood stained van and placed on the Corossal Road. The driver of the van appeared badly crushed while the two dead teenagers suffered massive head injuries. Relatives of the dead three were quickly on the scene, and were seen trying to render assistance to the injured. Officials from the Emergency Health Services took the injured to hospital. Newsday learned that the dead driver worked at Kenny Mohammed Hardware at Williamsville as a driver. Snr Supt Phillip Carmona, ASP Anthony Bernard, Sgt Jeff Jackson and others visited the scene of the fatalities. The van was later towed to the Gran Couva Police Station. ACP Deochand Gosein, the Head of Traffic Branch said that 37 persons have been killed in road deaths for the year so far. Those 37 deaths occurred as a result of 25 road accidents.