Two men died in an accident along the Uriah Butler Highway in Chaguanas during rush hour traffic yesterday, after a motorist tried to avoid hitting a man crossing the highway.
Both the motorist and the pedestrian died on the scene.
According to reports, Aftab Brian Ali was driving his Nissan Frontier along the northbound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway, between the John Peter walkover and the Assaraf Road walkover, around 6.30 pm when the incident happened.
An eyewitness, who identified himself only as Garvin, told Guardian Media that Ali swerved to avoid hitting a man crossing the highway.
“The van was heading north on the Uriah, tried to avoid hitting a pedestrian crossing but they still hit him, he died on the spot. They lost control a little lower down, flipped several times and ended up on the southbound,” Garvin said.
The pedestrian died on the scene and his body remained on the northbound lane of the highway for several hours after the accident. Police said he was identified only as an Indian national up to press time.
Ali’s van flipped several times and landed in the southbound lane.
Ali, of McIntosh Trace, Toco Main Road, Toco, died on the scene. He was 29.
Two passengers in Ali’s vehicle were rushed to the hospital.
The accident caused traffic on the southbound lane to pile up past the Valsayn Interchange for several hours, as fire officers blocked two lanes of the highway to clear debris and await the removal of the bodies.
Traffic on the northbound also piled up, as fire trucks blocked the lane where the pedestrian’s body lay.
Both bodies were still on the roadway at 8.30 pm.