Motiram Mungroo, 53, the father of Sunil Mungroo, sat holding his last child, three-year-old Samera in his lap at their Apoo Avenue, Orange Field Road, Carapichaima, home yesterday. The night before, Mungroo, an employee of the South West Regional Health Authority, had received news that his only son, Sunil, had been killed in a car accident. Twenty-six-year-old Sunil Mungroo was one of six people killed while travelling in cars heading south along the Solomon Hochoy Highway on Saturday night. Mungroo said his last child Samera was deeply broken up since she lost her only brother, with whom she was very close.
The elder Mungroo said his son was a hard worker who drove a ten-wheeler truck for a construction company to earn a living and was in a black Ford Ranger pick–up when the accident occurred. Mungroo said he had a day off on Saturday and was at home when an uneasy feeling overcame him. He said after 9 pm on Saturday, he called his son who did not answer his phone. He then called one of his son's co-workers, Patrick Cyrus, a 17-year-old who was also killed in the accident, and who lived a stone's throw away. Cyrus, too, did not answer his phone. Mungroo said his elder daughter started making several calls until they got the news of the deaths.
He said he was tired of the old talk about barriers being installed on the median to block cars from crossing. He recalled the deaths of four people from Diego Martin last week Sunday and the deaths of four people from Felicity in February, who all died under similar circumstances. Mungroo said he was still trying to come to terms with the death of his only son and still was in a state of disbelief. Betty Joseph, 63, had been taking care of Patrick Cyrus since he was two months old. Joseph said Cyrus did not like school, but liked to work and was a very hard worker and an ambitious young man.
She said Cyrus stopped attending Carapichaima Senior Comprehensive School in Form Four when he started receiving threats on his life and instead started to work. A distraught Joseph said Cyrus planned on saving his money to buy a piece of land and build a house.