Seven-year-old Karishma Harriram is unaware that the accident which caused her to suffer a broken arm and leg also claimed the life of her father and brother, Namdeo and Lalchan Harriram.
However, her aunt Radica Rampersad, who has been at her bedside at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital, said the child, sensing that something is wrong, has been constantly asking for her daddy and her brother who would have been at her side under normal circumstances.
“We have not told her that they have passed on but she has a feeling that something is wrong.
“She is crying constantly and is asking for her father and her brother.
“She saw her mother who was with her in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department after the accident but she has not seen her dad and brother.”
Hawantee, 45, was discharged from the hospital at 3 am on Tuesday after being treated for minor cuts and bruises.
Rampersad said Karishma, also known as Tricia, had no memory of the accident as she was taken to the district hospital at Princes Town by passers-by who witnessed the accident, before paramedics, police and fire officers arrived on the scene and used the hydraulic cutting tools, commonly referred to as the jaws of life, to remove the bodies of the two men from the wreckage.
Lalchan and Karishma were in the back seat of the vehicle, driven by Namdeo. Hawantee was in the front passenger seat.
The brother and sister were on their way to visit a doctor in San Fernando, when tragedy struck.
“Tricia is in a lot of pain and has been asking the nurses not to give her any injections because they hurt,” her aunt said.
Member of Parliament for Princes Town Barry Padarath visited Hawantee at hospital and has offered to assist with the joint funeral arrangements which are scheduled for Friday at the family’s home in New Grant.
“I know the family well. In fact, Mrs Harriram worked closely with me during the 2015 general election as one of my polling agents.
“This is a very humble family and I have pledged to offer them whatever support we can from the office of the MP and at the level of the Princes Town Regional Corporation.”
Padarath said Hawantee appeared to be strong emotionally but very fragile when it came to recalling the incident.
“You have to understand that in addition to being the backbone of the family, the breadwinners, Lalchan was also her first-born with whom she shared a very close relationship,” Padarath said.
Rampersad said the two would be cremated at the Shore of Peace, Mosquito Creek, La Romaine, following a funeral service at the family’s home at Daly Road. It is not certain whether Tricia will be able to attend the funeral.
An autopsy at the mortuary at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) showed that the two men died from multiple injuries consistent with a motor vehicle accident.
ASP Rohan Pardasie confirmed the driver of the truck, Dave Ramkissoon, who is traumatised by the tragedy, is yet to be interviewed by the police.
He said he would speak with the police Victim and Witness Support Unit to establish whether they could offer counselling to Ramkissoon and his brother, Nizam Mohammed, who was a passenger in the truck.
Shortly after 10 am on Monday, the black Toyota Corolla Altis which Namdeo, 48, was driving, skidded off the wet M1 Ring Road, Princes Town, and crashed into the loaded ten-tonne truck, going under it.
The impact damaged the front tyre of the truck causing it to run off the opposite side of the road and land in a ditch.