A 22-year-old Couva man and his girlfriend were burnt to death after the car in which they were travelling burst into flames after crashing along the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, Claxton Bay, on Sunday.So charred were the remains that relatives had to use items found inside the white Nissan Almera to identify Jermaine Ackie, of Roystonia Gardens, Couva, and Lee Ann Ramkissoon, 23, of Champs Fleurs.Police said they were heading north shortly after midnight when on reaching the Claxton Bay flyover the car swerved off the road and crashed into a concrete slab. It burst into flames with the couple trapped inside. They were burned to death as passers-by looked on helplessly.
Firefighters from the Savonetta, Couva, station arrived shortly after and put out the blaze. The bodies were taken to the San Fernando mortuary and were to be transferred to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for autopsies today.In an unrelated case, a second passenger in the accident on Sunday near the Caroni Bird Sanctuary has died.Precious Mc Carthy, 17, of San Juan, died yesterday morning at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Rakesh Dwarika, who also died in the crash. The front seat passenger who died along with Dwarika was yesterday identified by her sisters as Sapphire Chase, 19, of 37 Laventille Road, East Dry River, Port-of-Spain.
Speaking with the media at the Forensic Science Centre yesterday, relatives of Dwarika said the 20-year-old had a very big heart and that was what they lost when he died.Relatives said he had gone with his friend, Rohan Browne, to pick up Browne's girlfriend and three others. He lost control of his car along the way and crashed.Dwarika was a cook at Jenny's on the Boulevard restaurant. The accident occurred on the north-bound lane of the highway near the Radio Trinidad transmission station.Police said Dwarika, of Fourth Street, and Chase both died on the scene. The other passengers in the car were Browne, 19, of Morvant, and Sapphire's younger sister, Jade.