Organisers of Caribbean Motor Racing Championship have described Sunday’s incident at the Frankie Boodram International Raceway in Wallerfield as a “freak accident.”
In a brief press release yesterday, event promoter, Rishi Kanick, said the incident, in which four people were injured, was still under investigation and his company was monitoring the condition of the victims, who remained warded in hospital last night.
“A race car became airborne and collided with the stands and spectators at the hairpin turn. Four persons were injured and hospitalised. An incident of this kind is highly unusual and has not been seen at Wallerfield before and is still under investigation,” Kanick said, without naming the victims.
When the T&T Guardian visited the facility yesterday, several members of the T&T Automobile Sports Association (TTASA), who were dismantling equipment, refused to comment officially on the crash.
However, under the condition that their identities would be withheld, they claimed all the relevant health and safety measures required for international circuit racing were adhered to when the course was designed for the event.
Pointing to the bleachers, which the car crashed into, they noted it had only left a dent in aluminim poles which held up the roof, as the tyres used as a crash barrier reduced the velocity of the runaway car.
They also claimed while concrete barriers were used at other points along the track, they were unsuitable for the corner where the accident occurred.
“The drivers would die on impact if those barriers were used on this corner,” they said.
The TTASA members also claimed while the accident was unprecedented, the organisation would consider whether the temporary stand should be removed for future events. They also produced an insurance certificate for the event and said the association would be working to obtain compensation for the victims.
The T&T Guardian was able to interview a close friend of all four victims, who himself narrowly evaded injury as he was filming videos near the track when the accident occurred.
Speaking at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, under the condition that he would remain anonymous and would not identify the victims, the self-described car enthusiast from central Trinidad said he acted instinctively on witnessing the incident in which his girlfriend, her female cousin, his best friend and his girlfriend were seriously injured.
One of the victims reportedly suffered a broken leg, another a broken arm and two others sustained internal injuries, with one of these two having to undergo surgery Sunday night.
“All I remember is seeing the first car run off and the other flying into the stand. Everybody I was with was in that stand so I ran straight over. They were all bleeding and some of their limbs were bent unnaturally,” he said.
Describing his friends’ survival as a miracle, he claimed their injuries would have been more severe if they had not been alert and tried to run out the stand after the first car hit the barrier.
While he admitted the incident was the first he had seen or heard about since he began to follow local motorsport events, he said additional measures needed to be implemented to ensure the safety of spectators.
“There need to be better barriers because you can’t stop a guy from losing control. Although what the driver did, did not look like he loss control but more like he drove into the crowd,” he said.
Up to the time he was speaking to the T&T Guardian, he said the organisers had not contacted the victims.
“I just want some answers and for some kind of help so that my girlfriend would walk again,” he said as he broke down in tears.
Minister of Sport Darryl Smith visited the victims yesterday.
Investigations into the accident are continuing.