Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
What started off as a birthday celebration ended in tragedy after a 26-year-old man was killed and his friends injured in an accident near Chaguanas, early yesterday morning.
Zion Forbes, a construction worker of Caratal Road, Gasparillo, died at the scene.
Forbes was the front seat passenger in his friend’s Nissan Sunny.
They were heading north along the Uriah Butler Highway, when, reaching near Ansa Motors shortly after 2 am, tragedy struck.
Initial information said the car struck the rear of the truck. The truck swerved off the road into a drain.
The drivers, as well as the three other passengers in the car, were treated at the hospital, and one was listed in critical condition.
When Guardian Media visited Forbes’ mother’s home yesterday, his relatives were still trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
His older sister, Shenica Sosa, said her brother liked hanging out with friends. That night, she said, he had gone with them to celebrate a birthday at a pool house in Las Lomas.
They were moving in two cars.
She said they were hearing different versions of how the accident transpired, including that the truck crossed the lane.
“All of them who went on the lime are friends from the neighbourhood. They lime every day. Every day is a liming day for them.”
She recalled that before her brother left, he informed their mother that he was going out.
“Before he left, he came here and told our mother that he was going to lime. He asked my daughter to make up his bed, and that he would return around three or four (in the morning). That was the last time we heard from him. Then we got the call about the accident.”
Sosa urged drivers to be responsible on the nation’s roads.
“Do not drink and drive. If you are drinking, stay off the roads.”
She described Forbes as a fun-loving person who liked to party and lime. He was the only male among nine siblings.
Chaguanas police are investigating.
