Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan yesterday pledged to arrange professional counselling for the victims injured during Saturday’s freak accident in Caura in which a tree fell on them, after their family members admitted to still being dazed by the incident.
According to reports, some time between 12.30 pm and 1 pm while they were liming at Pool 1, a huge tree split in two and fell on seven people, including eight-year-old Dimitri Rampersad, who were liming.
The others injured were identified as Kenny Rupert, 48, his wife, Gloria, 42, of Tacarigua; Alberta Pureed, 30, Dave Bhola, 32, and his wife, Ornella Pollard, 25, of Crown Street, Tacarigua, and Mary Bhaggan, 42, of Spring Village, Valsayn.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Khan said he would be more than glad to assist the family by providing trauma counselling, as he noted family members had said they were still very traumatised.
Meanwhile, Ornella Pollard, who was also a victim of Saturday’s tragedy and who escaped major injury, explained yesterday that her family remained dazed and confused in the wake of the incident and feel like they need help in the form of counselling.
“I am the only one able to move about and do things. I have to see about my husband also, who is constant severe pain and try to get stronger pain killers for him.
“I feel confused, like I do not know what to do and so are my other family members. It is like a never ending nightmare for us. We need some kind of help,” Pollard said.
Yesterday, little Dimitri, a Standard Four pupil of the El Dorado South Hindu Primary School, was still in a serious condition at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC), Mount Hope, and his aunt, Bhaggan, who received spinal injuries, was said to be in and out of consciousness.
Pollard on Sunday told the T&T Guardian she was told the tree that fell on them was earmarked to be cut down. She noted that there were no warning signs, notices or caution tape in the area.
But when contacted yesterday on the matter, Rishi Siew, of the Disaster Management Unit at the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, said the corporation was not in charge of dealing with trees in the area and that fell under the purview of the Forestry Division.
Also contacted for comment yesterday, Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh, the line minister for the division, said he would launch his own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The site of the fallen tree was cleared yesterday and bathers were there in their numbers.