Relatives of Valencia brothers Kwame Romain, 26, who remains at hospital in a serious condition, and Kareem Romain, 27, who died following a two-vehicle accident which claimed five other lives on Monday night, say they hold no malice towards the driver of the car, Travis Teague.
However, the relatives begged motorists to stop speeding on the nation's roads.
According to police reports, the Romain brothers along with Che Peters and Teague were heading east along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway when on reaching the O'Meara intersection, Teague's Mitsubishi CK Lancer collided with an Isuzu pick-up heading south along O'Meara Road.
All the passengers in Teague's vehicle, except for the younger Romain brother, died on the scene, as did three occupants of the truck.
The other casualties were Ramesh Narine, Avenelle Thomas and Timothy Fraser. The trio, all employed with Special Elite Investigations Services Limited, were on their way home after working a 10 am to 10 pm shift. Police reports are that Narine was the driver of the truck.
Police said the accident took place around 11.30 pm and was the first fatal accident at the junction for the year, adding the area was not considered a high risk one.
Apart from Kwame, Roxanne Johnson and Rampaul Hanoo were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Centre, Mt Hope, where they remained warded last night.
Relatives of Peters, who also live in the Valencia area, were not at home when the T&T Guardian visited yesterday.
Speaking with the media at her home off the Eastern Main Road, Valencia yesterday, Debra Gibbons, the Romain brothers' mother, said the two were exactly one year apart, even sharing the same November 12 birthday.
Gibbons wept as she recalled how the boys did everything together, from working as mechanics to roofing and everything in between. As she spoke, incumbent chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation Terry Rondon visited and brought with him food items to help the family. Rondon also took time off to warn drivers about the excessive speed.
Rondon said: "Take it down please. There is a lot of trucks that traverse these roads, it is time that these drivers take it down man. It's from one tragedy to the next (referring to the devastation at Matelot earlier this week following heavy rains). But what I have noticed is that these things are bringing us closer together."
Rondon's call for drivers to slow down was echoed by Cedric Gibbons, the Romain brothers' uncle, who identified Teague as a driver who like speed and had been cautioned about it in the past.
"He used to drive hard. I want to tell the young people to take it down, is only the young people killing themselves on the road you know," Gibbons added.
SECURITY FIRM STRUGGLES WITH COLLEAGUES' DEATHS
When asked if the family was blaming Teague or had any ill-will towards him over the death of one child and near death of another, the Romain relatives said "No!" They added that the boys were friends and to harbour a grudge against anyone would erode that friendship. Kareem, they said, was the father of two children 11 and one. Gibbons said her son has to undergo a second CT scan and suffered broken bones.
At Teague's Orchid Drive, Valencia home, his father Terrance said he never drove with his son, but knew that "young people does drive hard." He said this was the second son he had lost to a vehicular accident, the first being his eldest Tito in 2005.
The senior Teague said he visited the crash site on Monday night, but after seeing the mangled cars and bodies he returned home. He said his son, 34, was a mechanic who had a 15-year-old daughter. Teague said he spoke to his son about his driving but "you could carry the cow to the river but you cannot make him drink."
"Death is like nothing to me you know, everybody have a programme but they does leave out death and that is a road everybody have to take," Teague added.
The T&T Guardian reached out to the security company and spoke with Julie Carter, administrative manager, who said they were very distraught yesterday and "trying to come to terms with the tragedy." The company expressed its condolences to the relatives of the deceased, but did not divulge any information on their addresses since it was "part of an ongoing investigation."
The deaths of the men and woman increased the road fatality to 124 for the year compared to 136 last year.