Maria Alesi wailed from afar, seeing a white sheet covering the body of her only child Lario Kaikaba, 19, at the Nausori Hospital on Tuesday.

Young Lario is the latest fatality on our roads. He was travelling in a vehicle along Waikete Road in Tailevu when the vehicle veered off road. The driver lost control of the vehicle along the gravel road. According to Police, the National Fire Authority had to remove Lario’s body out of the mangled wreck. It was only a few hours ago when Ms Alesi, 43, had spoken to her son.

Yesterday, she recalled the last meeting with Lario. The young man, his father Lario Senior and Ms Alesi had breakfast together.

She had baked a tray of pie and the three of them shared it with tea.

“We sat around and shared laughs. My husband likes to tease him, and we were laughing. Little did I know that this would be the last laugh we would be having,” Ms Alesi said, tears streaming down her face.

“Lario said he was going to see his aunt. As he strolled onto the road before getting into the car, he was again teased by his father.

“He looked back and laughed.”

Ms Alesi said her niece had gotten into a vehicle behind the car Lario was in.

She said her niece went with Lario to the hospital and called her from there.

“She was crying when she called. I did not know Lario had died. I thought he was seriously injured,” Ms Alesi said.

“At the hospital, I stood outside. My niece came out of the room. There was a body which was covered in a white sheet.

“As she came close to me, she hugged me and started crying. I knew that it was Lario.”

Ms Alesi said her husband was hurt and even though he was not showing the emotions, Lario was their only child and the bond between father and son was remarkably close.

She described her son as a hardworking young man who loved to be around family. She said if he had spare time, he would be doing something for his younger cousins.

“Just a few days ago we were talking about accessing the government help to go into a big agricultural production. Lario was telling his father to get a digger to clear more land,” Ms Alesi said.

According to Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro, a postmortem examination was conducted yesterday, and investigations continue.