Three Grande men die in early morning crash

Less than an hour after leaving their homes in Sangre Grande to go to work, two neighbours were killed in a car accident that also claimed the life of the driver. Dead are taxi driver Nazarus Ali, 44; Rodney Singh, 34; and Linchan Ragoobar, 52, all of Genda Road, Fishing Pond. Their deaths pushed the road fatality figure to 112 for the year.

Reports indicate that around 5.45 am yesterday, Ali was driving his Toyota Corolla west along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, when, on reaching Jacob Hill, Wallerfield, he was involved in a collision with two vehicles heading in the same direction. Ali then crashed into a utility pole. Ali, Singh and Ragoobar died on the spot. A fourth passenger, Nicholas Ramdass, 19, also of Fishing Pond, was seriously injured.

Ramdass was taken to the Arima District Hospital, where he was treated and later transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt Hope. Up to last night, Ramdass was said to be resting in a stable condition. Police who visited the scene yesterday issued a warning to motorists to exercise caution when using the nation’s roads. Senior officers told the T&T Guardian that extensive investigations need to be carried out before a definitive cause of the accident is determined.

In a separate incident, the decomposing body of a man reported missing since July 20 was found in Valencia on Monday. Around 5 pm on July 30, officers from the Valencia Police Post were notified that a man had been seen lying in a drain along the Eastern Main Road. Police identified the dead man as Andy Ali Bertram, 34, of Bertram Street, Valencia.