RALPH BANWARIE
Three men and one woman narrowly escaped death yesterday, after the vehicle in which they were travelling ran off an embankment on Toco Road and landed on rocks 400 metres below close to the seashore.
Driver Glenford Marcano was warded in a serious condition at the Sangre Grande Hospital after sustaining a punctured lung, head and other bodily injuries after the accident. Passengers Joel Rouget and Lotoya Parks were also warded but were in stable condition, while Kendell Franklyn was treated and discharged.
Toco police reported that around 1.45 pm yesterday, they responded to an accident on the 33-kilometre mark on the Toco Road. When the officers arrived they saw loose rocks on the embankment but did not see any vehicle. They were about to return to the station when a fisherman alerted them to a crashed Nissan Frontier lying on the rocks close to the seashore, which was barely visible from the shoreline.
Fishermen were then able to access and rescue the victims using a boat and they were later taken by ambulance to the Toco Health Facility, where they received medical attention before being transferred to the Sangre Grande Hospital.
Eyewitnesses told police the four victims, all from Toco, were in a Frontier Nissan pickup van and were travelling towards Sangre Grande when the driver lost control while negotiating what is a blind corner and ran over the embankment. The pickup then flipped several times as it went down the precipice before smashing into the rocks below.
A video of the fishermen’s rescue of the driver and the accident surfaced online yesterday and was widely shared.
Cpl James thanked the fishermen who assisted in the rescue. Visiting the scene were James and PCs Browne, Torres and Alexander of the Toco Police Station.
Cpl James is investigating.