When Junora Modeste saw a truck hurtling towards him on the south bound carriageway of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, he thought his life was over.The truck, laden with gravel, careened into the railing along the highway, causing two other trucks to crash and flattening the car in which Modeste and his friend Farai Julien were seated. The truck then hit a Ford Ranger driven by Michael Cuffie, 28, of Maraval.Miraculously, Modeste escaped with only a cut to his big toe and minor injuries to his knee. No one else was injured.
Police said the five-vehicle smashup occurred around 10 am close to the Gasparillo Flyover.In an interview afterwards, truck driver Mahadeo Heeralal, of Sanjaco Co Ltd, said he was driving his ten-wheeler when on reaching an incline at the Flyover, traffic slowed and his brakes failed."I had no way of stopping. I saw a space between the cars and I squeezed in to get to the shoulder," Heeralal said. His truck then slammed into a dump truck driven by Kalipersad Kissoon, 60, an employee of Radkir Contractors.The ten-wheeler knocked down the railing and then grazed Julien's B-13 car, which then became lodged underneath Kissoon's truck. The dump truck also hit a van transporting eggs from El Chico Farms. Hundreds of eggs spilled onto the highway, causing two hours of stand-still traffic.
Speaking at the scene, Julien, 34, of Union Hall, San Fernando, said he started to pray when he saw the truck in his side mirror."I thought I would die. I didn't think I would come out of this alive,"he recalled.Modeste said: "I thought I would not live to see my 29th birthday."Cuffie, who stood beside the smashed van, added: "Thank God nobody died. This could have been much worse."Heeralal, who has been driving for over 30 years, said he did not know what caused his brakes to fail since the truck undergoes regular maintenance.Officers from the St Margaret's police station visited the scene. PC Roopnarine is continuing investigations.