Police are now hunting for the driver who never stopped after he ran into Kimchan Roopnarine and Patricia Ali in Penal on Sunday night, killing them on the spot.
The couple’s sons, Brandon Roopnarine, nine and Darion, five, escaped death by inches but watched on in horror as the driver of a Nissan Tiida slammed into their parents, then drove away as the couple lay dying on the roadside.
The boys subsequently ran to their uncle Seudath Roopnarine’s home screaming for help but there was little paramedics could no to save the couple by the time they arrived on the scene. Kimchan died almost immediately while Patricia died soon after.
“It is only a heartless person could have done this,” Seudath told the T&T Guardian yesterday as he picked up Kimchan’s cross pendant from among bloodied splinters at the crash scene.
Kimchan, 38, was a labourer while Patricia, 36, worked as a domestic worker.
The family had just left relatives’ home along the Old Quinam Road around 9.30 pm and were walking along the Penal Rock Road when the incident happened. They were just two houses away from home when the car rammed into them from behind. The couple was thrown a few feet forward on the roadside. Luckily for Brandon and Darion, they were just ahead of their parents when the car hit.
Seudath, who lives next to Kimchan and Patricia, said he heard the car crashing into his relatives and immediately ran outside.
“When I reached outside I saw the car swerving, going up the road. Same time I saw the two children running up the hill by me. They said a car now bounced their mother and father. I went down there and saw them on the ground. Their father had already died but their mother was kind of breathing but real blood was coming out,” Seudath said, as he pondered how his nephews had been made orphans by the driver’s act.
Residents said the stretch of road was a speed zone and believe if there was a pavement along the road the couple might have had different fortunes. They added that the street light where the collision took place has also not been working for just over a year.
Roopnarine’s brother, Ramesh, said although he understood that accidents happen, he was hurt by the driver’s decision to drive off instead of offering help.
Police have detained a woman who was said to be the owner of the car. However, they were trying to determine whether she was driving at the time of the accident or it was her boyfriend, since he was said to have borrowed her vehicle on Sunday. After the incident, he is alleged to have returned the damaged car to the woman’s home and left. Penal police found the car at her home yesterday morning and took her into custody.
In an unrelated incident, Central Division police are investigating the death of Carlan Emmanuel, 32, whose body was found on the roadside in Caparo on Saturday. Emmanuel, a Chaguanas Borough Corporation employee, was discovered by motorists driving along the Caparo Main Road around 7 am.
Police said there were no marks of violence on the body but believe Emmanuel may have been a an overnight hit and run victim. Officers from the Brasso station visited the scene and interviewed residents but no one saw what happened.