A car went off the road and hit a tree on the left side of the highway in Beau Plan yesterday afternoon. Four of the five passengers lost their lives. The 70 year old driver of the vehicle who escaped with minor injuries was placed under arrest. He was given a breathalyzer test which was negative. The four victims are, a 35 year old woman from cité Chébel, Beau-Bassin, a 50 year old woman living in Albion, a 50 year old man from Reunion Island and a 14 year old boy from cité Chébel, Beau-Bassin. With these four victims, the number of deaths on our roads since the beginning of this year increases to 107 deaths.
It was around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 28 that this accident occurred. According to the information received, a Nissan car coming from Pamplemousses was driving in the direction of Port-Louis. At one point the driver lost control of his vehicle. This one left the road and ended up on the other lane before violently hitting a tree on the left side of this road heading north.
Elements of the Pamplemousses police station were immediately alerted and went to the scene of the accident. Given the extent of the damage, the men of the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service were called in to extricate the victims on board this car with the personnel of an ambulance of the Emergency Medical Service (Samu) with great difficulty.
The death of the man from Reunion and the teenager was noted on the spot. The driver of the car who escaped with minor injuries was taken to the Pamplemousses police station. The other three survivors were taken to the North Hospital for treatment. The 35 year old woman and the 50 year old woman did not survive their injuries. The driver of the car was later taken to the North Hospital morgue to identify the victims.
The bodies of the four victims were later transported to the morgue of the Dr. A.G. Jeetoo Hospital, Port-Louis for identification. Jeetoo Hospital, Port-Louis to be autopsied. The autopsy, performed by Dr. Prem Chamane, Principal Police Medical Officer, attributed the death to multiple injuries.
The driver of the car will be brought before the court of Pamplemousses this morning, Thursday, December 29. He is facing a provisional charge of manslaughter.
