RALPH BANWARIE
A family outing to Manzanilla on the eve of today’s Divali holiday turned tragic for a mother and her baby yesterday, after they were killed when the vehicle they were in crashed along the Manzanilla/Mayaro Road.
Sasha Surujbally, 21, and her three-month-old baby, Soriah, died on the spot while three other occupants of the vehicle were rushed to the Sangre Grande Hospital for treatment by ambulance.
Police said an eyewitness told them around 2.15 pm, the vehicle which Sasha was driving began to swerve along the roadway before crashing into an electricity pole. Fire officers who responded had to use the jaws of life to remove the occupants of the vehicle, as they were pinned inside.
Traffic along the Mayaro Road came to standstill as drivers of some vehicles stopped and their passengers came out and tried initially tried to assist the family, who are from Maharaj Hill, Coalmine, Sangre Grande.
Relatives who rushed to the accident on hearing the news wept uncontrollably at the scene while others rushed to the Sangre Grande Hospital to see their other loved ones.
District Medical Officer Dr Belgrave viewed the bodies and ordered their removal to Sangre Grande Hospital mortuary, from where they will be taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex for post mortems.
Visiting the scene were ASP Dave Revanales, Sgt Racha, Cpl Singh and PC Baron.