Derek Achong

A spe­cial in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the cir­cum­stances sur­round­ing the death of ac­ci­dent vic­tim Joan Webb was ini­ti­at­ed yes­ter­day. The an­nounce­ment was made by Po­lice Pub­lic Af­fairs di­rec­tor Sharon Lee As­sang yes­ter­day, dur­ing the dai­ly po­lice press brief­ing at Po­lice Ad­min­is­tra­tion Build­ing, Ed­ward Street, Port-of-Spain. Webb, 70, a pen­sion­er from Viceroy Cres­cent, Bon Air Gar­dens, Arou­ca, died on Tues­day af­ter­noon af­ter a ve­hi­cle in which she was trav­el­ling col­lid­ed with a po­lice ve­hi­cle at the Bon Air Gar­dens and Pri­or­i­ty Bus Route in­ter­sec­tion. Webb was due to cel­e­brate her 71st birth­day with friends and rel­a­tives at her home yes­ter­day. Lee As­sang said: "An in­ves­ti­ga­tor is go­ing to be ap­point­ed to do a full in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the ac­ci­dent."

"This mat­ter is se­ri­ous... it is the loss of a life," she said. "The in­ci­dent is heart-rend­ing, both to the po­lice and the vic­tim's fam­i­ly. "The in­ves­ti­ga­tion is go­ing to be a long and lengthy process, but the po­lice are com­mit­ted to do­ing their due dili­gence to en­sure this mat­ter is ad­dressed and in­ves­ti­gat­ed thor­ough­ly." Lee As­sang added that sev­er­al wit­ness­es were still to be in­ter­viewed, but de­clined to re­veal ex­act in­for­ma­tion con­cern­ing the des­ti­na­tion of the po­lice ve­hi­cle be­fore the ac­ci­dent oc­curred. The dri­ver of the Maz­da 323 in which Webb was a pas­sen­ger, Al­win Williams, 66, and Hay­den Lewis, a 54-year-old pris­ons of­fi­cer, both al­so of Bon Air Gar­dens, were tak­en to hos­pi­tal be­cause of se­ri­ous in­juries sus­tained in the ac­ci­dent.

Up to late yes­ter­day, Williams and Lewis still re­mained at Er­ic Williams Med­ical Sci­ences Com­plex, Mt Hope, in sta­ble con­di­tion. Re­ports in­di­cat­ed that the of­fi­cers who were oc­cu­pants of the marked Ford Ranger pick-up all es­caped se­ri­ous in­juries. The of­fi­cers are all as­signed to St Joseph Po­lice Sta­tion. Both ve­hi­cles were towed to the Arou­ca Po­lice Sta­tion where they are ex­pect­ed to be in­spect­ed by in­ves­ti­ga­tors. Lee As­sang said coun­selling was al­ready be­ing pro­vid­ed by the po­lice to Webb's fam­i­ly who were trau­ma­tised be­cause of the ac­ci­dent. "Right now, we (the po­lice) have mem­bers of the Po­lice Vic­tim and Wit­ness Sup­port Unit meet­ing and coun­selling the fam­i­ly at their home," she said.