They were about a hundred motorcycles to have participated in a rally, on this holiday of Wednesday, February 1 in the southwest region of the country. But this day was going to be tragic for Frederic Augustin, 37 years old on the Royal road, Les Mares in Plaine Champagne. On a curve, his Kawasaki motorcycle skidded and hit an oncoming car head-on. A 16 year old teenager, driver of an Aprilla motorcycle that was going the other way, had to crash into him. Frederic Augustin, who has been under artificial ventilation since the accident, died of his injuries on Saturday morning, March 11.
At the Augustin’s home in Tranquebar where the victim lived, there is consternation. They were all hopeful that Frederic would pull through. On February 1st, nothing was foreseen that a tragedy would occur when Frederic had left his home for this motorcycle tour for this rally. It was 12:30 p.m. when this terrible accident took place. A car was driving on the road to Les Mares, Plaine Champagne, when its driver, a 53 year old entrepreneur who was approaching a curve, saw a parade of motorcycles, about a hundred of them. At a certain moment one of these motorcycles coming from the direction of Black River had to take the width of this road to hit the car. This one was heading towards Vacoas.
The impact was so violent that Frederic Augustin’s motorcycle was thrown into the air. A 16 year old motorcyclist who was just behind fell. Both injured were evacuated to the Jawaharlall Nehru Hospital in Rose-Belle before the police arrived.
Frederic Augustin was seriously injured and was admitted to the intensive care unit after receiving treatment. He was placed on artificial respiration. His prognosis was vital. The 16 year old teenager who lives in Grande-Rivière-Nord-Ouest was transferred to the Dr. A.G. Jeetoo Hospital in Port-Louis where he was admitted to the ward. He was able to return home a few days later.
The driver of the car was given a breathalyzer test which was negative, but the test could not be performed on the teenager. The police have images from a camera in the car that filmed this accident.
It was around 10 am on Saturday, March 11 that Frederic Augustin breathed his last. His body was then taken to the morgue of the Victoria Hospital in Candos for an autopsy. The autopsy, performed by Dr. Shaila Prasad-Jankee, Principal Police Medical Officer, attributed the death to septicemia.
