In what witnesses say was like a scene from a movie, a Ford Ranger flipped over the median of the southbound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway, slammed into a truck and then somersaulted repeatedly, killing the driver. Police said Joseph Ramoutar, 58, of Lightborne Road, Bonne Aventure, Gasparillo, died instantly from massive head and internal injuries. His van landed down a precipice about 200 feet from the highway. Police said Ramoutar was heading south along the highway around 3 pm yesterday when, on reaching the Brian Lara Stadium, he lost control of the van.
Investigators believe the van skidded on the wet road, flipped over the median and collided with the three-tonne truck. Three employees of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) were in the truck.
Fire-fighters arrived on the scene and took the WASA?employees to the San Fernando General Hospital. Their identities had not been released by police up to late yesterday. The accident caused a massive traffic jam on the highway in both directions as far as Golconda and Couva. All of the side streets leading out of San Fernando, Marabella and Gasparillo were jammed with traffic.