They were like brothers in life, inseparable even, and because of this, best friends Che Peters and Kareem Romain will be buried side by side tomorrow, following a joint funeral.
To date, Kareem's younger brother Kwme, who was in the fatal accident Monday that claimed six lives, is unaware his brother, with whom he shares a birthday, is dead and doctors have advised that he not be told as the shock of the news may very well lead to his death.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, the men's sister, Sade Romain, said Peters was like family so she had lost two brothers. She said Kwme has been asking for his sibling, but outside of a gash over the right eye and injuries to the shoulder and leg he was doing well. She added though that doctors are monitoring his blood pressure, which is very low and have isolated him and placed a limit to his visitors.
Outside of dealing with the pain and frustration of have to bury her two "brothers," Romain said she is also being bombarded with erroneous social media reports that Kwme had passed away at hospital. She said since the accident she has received numerous calls from friends saying they had seen such reports on Facebook. She asked those spreading the rumours to stop, as it only adds to the family's grief.
Peters and Romain died when the Mitsubishi CK Lancer driven by their friend, Travis Teague, slammed into an Isuzu pick-up driven by Ramish Narine. Both Narine and Teague died along with two of Narine's passengers Averniel Thomas and Timothy Fraser.
The deceased from the pick-up were all employed with Special Elite Investigations Services Limited and were on their way home after work. Teague, Romain and Peters were returning to their Valencia homes from visiting a friend in Chaguanas, when on reaching the intersection of Churchill Roosevelt Highway and O'Meara Road, Teague's car collided with the pick-up around 11.30 pm.
At the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday, only relatives of Thomas and Narine spoke with the media. Thomas' brother, Andre, advised drivers to be more careful on the road.
Andre said his sister was 35 and had been employed as a security officer for close to four years.
?Man crushed in suspected hit-and-run
In an unrelated incident, police are looking for the driver of a garbage truck whom they believe ran over a 30-year-old Diego Martin man yesterday morning. Police said Richard Samaroo was last seen binge drinking and walking along the Western Main Road, near Mason Road, hours before he was killed. Police said they received a call around 4.30 am about a man's body found flattened on the roadway and later found Samaroo, who they said lived in the area.
Police suspect Samaroo fell asleep on the the roadway and was run over, most likely by a garbage truck.