On the eve of the new year 2024, three victims were added to the black series of road accidents in 24 hours. The latest is that of a couple killed in a car that crashed into a wooden pylon on Avenue Ollier, Belle Rose near the School of Electronics on the morning of Saturday December 30. Safeea Toorabally, née Goonoo, aged 75, who was occupying the front passenger seat, was killed instantly. The driver, Abdoolah Amantoola, a 90-year-old Rosehillian, succumbed to his injuries at Victoria Hospital in Candos, where he was taken for treatment. On the morning of Friday December 29, 72-year-old Rambhawtee Peertun, née Ragoolam, was killed under the wheels of a van on Rue Charon, Cassis. The vehicle was driven by a 53-year-old local woman. To date, the number of deaths on our roads since the beginning of this year is one hundred and thirty-eight.
It was after 10 o’clock on Saturday morning, December 30, when a grey Nissan collided head-on with an electricity pylon on Avenue Ollier, Belle Rose, near the School of Electronique. The car, coming from Avenue Ollier, was heading towards the main Belle Rose road. A team of police officers from the Rose-Hill police station and elements of the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service were immediately alerted and rushed to the scene of the accident. The driver, who was injured and unconscious at the wheel, was identified by passers-by as Abdoolah Amantoolla, a resident of Route Boundary, Rose Hill, not far from Quran House.
An ambulance from the Service d’Aide Médicale d’Urgence (Samu) was also called to the scene. The doctor on board was only able to certify the death of the septuagenarian, who was injured and unconscious. Her body was taken to the morgue at Victoria Hospital, Candos, after being extricated from the vehicle by firefighters.
The Samu ambulance took Abdoolah Amantoolla on board for transport to Victoria Hospital. He too succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards.
On Friday, December 29, at 9:45 a.m., Rambhawtee Peertun was leaving a store on her way to Cassis on Rue Chaton. She was standing next to Billy’s store. She was crossing this road from the left to get to the road. At the same time, a van driven by a 53-year-old woman coming from route de Cassis turned right into rue Charon. The vehicle left the road and collided head-on with the victim, running over her body. Two women heading towards route de Cassis had to run to avoid being hit by the vehicle.
Dr. Maxwell Monvoisin, Principal Police Medical Officer, who performed the autopsy on the body of the septuagenarian at the Victoria Hospital morgue, Candos, on the afternoon of Friday December 29, attributed the death to several blows to the chest.
The driver was brought before the Port-Louis court on a provisional charge of manslaughter. She was released on bail of Rs 25,000 and an IOU of Rs 100,000. The court also ordered her to report to the Bain des Dames police station every Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
