A collision involving two motorcycles on the Route Royale from Camp Dahlia to Petit Pointe aux Piments on the night of Tuesday August 15 led to heated tension between the police and a hostile crowd of three hundred people. A policeman was even assaulted by a small group. Emergency Medical Service (Samu) personnel called to the scene could only confirm the death of Owen Pascal Damien Bucktowar, a 25-year-old resident of Solitude, Triolet. Pravesh Dulloo, 40, from Morcellement Saint André, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the northern hospital.
At around 10.30 p.m., a team of police officers from the Triolet police station went to Camp Dahlia, Petite Pointe aux Piments, following a request concerning a fatal accident. Two motorcycles were involved. A black Yamaha driven by Pravesh Dulloo and a blue Pulsar driven by Owen Bucktowar.
At first, the identity of the two injured could not be determined due to the hostile crowd. An ambulance from the northern hospital took Pravesh Dulloo, who was injured, on board. The second injured man could not be transported from the accident site because of the hostile crowd. Shortly afterwards, a Samu ambulance arrived on the scene, and a doctor on board was only able to note the death of this injured man at 10.47 p.m. Owen Bucktowar. His body was then handed over to the local police.
As the situation became more hostile and uncooperative, Samu personnel left the scene to go to the Triolet police station to hand over the victim’s medical certificate. The police who had taken over responsibility for the scene of the accident had to call in the reinforcements of other police units to contain the hostile crowd.
A policeman who was at the scene was attacked by a group of people when he found himself. A fluorescent torch in his possession was snatched from the crowd. With the support of other police officers, Owen Bucktowar’s body was removed from the scene and taken to the North Hospital morgue.
Meanwhile, Pravesh Duloo was pronounced dead at 11 p.m. in the emergency department of the northern hospital. The two bodies were subsequently transferred from the morgue at Hôpital du Nord to that of Dr A.G. Jeetoo, Pot-Louis. An autopsy was performed by Dr Sudesh Kumar Gungadin, head of the police forensic department, on Wednesday morning August 16. He attributed the deaths of the two motorcyclists to multiple injuries.
An investigation has been launched at the Triolet police station to shed light on the exact circumstances of this accident.
The funeral of Pravesh Dulloo, also known as Kamlesh, took place on Wednesday 16 August at 4pm. He was cremated at Terminus crematorium in Triolet. The funeral of Owen Bucktowar, also known as Damien, is scheduled for this Thursday morning, August 17 at 10am. After the funeral ceremony at Notre Dame De L’Espérance church in Solitude, he will be laid to rest in Bois Marchand cemetery, Terre Rouge.
