After being involved in a road accident, a 19-year-old student from the village of Brisée-Verdière tested positive for alcohol. He had 65 micrograms of alcohol in his breath. The accident occurred on the afternoon of Friday June 2 along the road from Rivière-Noire to Gros Cailloux. The Toyota car driven by the student was coming from Bambous towards Port-Louis when it collided head-on with an oncoming Suzuki motorcycle. The motorcycle was driven by a 30-year-old police officer from Bambous. He is assigned to the Marcoss commando unit of the National Coast Guard (NCG) in Bambous. He suffered serious injuries to his left leg, which required surgery.
The accident occurred at around 5pm. The Toyota driven by the student from Brisée-Verdière was heading towards Petite-Rivière. Arriving in the Gros Cailloux area, his vehicle collided head-on with the motorcycle driven by an NCG police officer. An ambulance from the Service d’Aide Médicale d’Urgence (Samu) was dispatched to the scene of the accident to evacuate the injured man to the Dr. A.G. Jeetoo Hospital, Port-Louis.
Meanwhile, police officers from the Petite-Rivière police station arrived at the scene of the accident. The driver of the car reeked of alcohol. He was taken to the Petite-Rivière police station. In the meantime, the two seriously damaged vehicles were towed to the police station. Coromandel firefighters were called in to clear debris from the road.
At the Petite-Rivière police station, the young driver was given a breathalyzer test by a police officer from the Emergency Response Service. The results were positive. The student was indeed intoxicated, with 65 micrograms of alcohol in his breath. Two other students were in the car. They are an 18-year-old man from Roche-Bois and a 20-year-old from Lallmatie. They were allowed to leave after giving their statements.
A breathalyzer test could not be carried out on the policeman, who was unconscious and under treatment. He suffered three fractures to his left leg. After undergoing surgery, he was admitted to hospital.
The young driver was placed in a drunk tank at the Bambous police station. An investigation has been opened to determine the exact circumstances of this accident.
