A Chaguanas man died yesterday after the car in which he was an occupant ran off the Uriah Butler Highway and crashed into the cable barrier at the Guayamare River. Police identified him as Clyde Victor.
Also injured was Curtis Raymond, 31, of Edinburgh 500, who police said lost control of the white Nissan B15 he was driving on the southbound lane of the highway. The accident happened shortly after 9 am.
Raymond, police said, fell out of the car and landed in a patch of bushes on the narrow banks of the river. He was rescued by Michael Sitney of Belmont who was passing in a van. Sitney was able to pull him from the riverbank.
Police and members of the Fire Service arrived shortly afterwards and took Raymond to the Chaguanas Health Centre by ambulance. Firemen had to use a crane to remove the car from the water.
Victor, also in his 30s, was removed from the back seat of the vehicles after fire officers used the Jaws of Life to rip open a section of the car. Victor was pronounced dead by District Medical Officer Dr Indarjit Birjah.
Natasha Chin, the common-law wife of Raymond, said she lives in Morvant. However, Raymond stayed in Chaguanas at the home of Victor’s grandmother. She said the duo may have been coming from a party in San Juan which they attended on Saturday.
She said Victor and Raymond were self-employed. She said she and Raymond had no children together but he had two children attending primary school, who lived at the homes of relatives in Morvant since the death of their mother several years ago.
Victor also had two children but was not married. Chin said she was deeply traumatised by the accident and was grateful Raymond survived.