Sixty-year-old Indra wept openly when she was told her husband had died in a road accident yester­day.

Her husband, taxi driver Parma Nand, died after his car crashed and caught fire at the Viseisei bypass road in Vuda, Lautoka.

The pair had been married for 40 years. They have two daughters

Police reported that Mr Nand was driv­ing the taxi vehicle from Nadi to Lauto­ka. The vehicle hit a tree and burst into flames.

Police confirmed there was a passen­ger who also died. They were still trying to identify the person and would not re­veal any further information.

Ms Indra said her husband drove a taxi for an operator residing in Nadi. She said he had been driving for 15 years.

“I can’t take it, I don’t know what to do. I am alone now, I can’t say anything; he has left me alone. He was nice, he was friendly with everyone. I will miss him, I can’t live without him,” she said.

“One of my daughters is in Australia and the other one is in Suva; they were crying when they heard about their father.”

She said funeral arrangements would be made after the post mor­tem examination was conducted.

The Road Incident

A Viseisei resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he heard a loud bang at around 5.45am after he completed his prayers.

“I couldn’t tell how many people were inside; people couldn’t save them because the fire was so big,” he said.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed traffic officers recovered Mr Nand and another individual from the vehicle which caught fire along the Viseisei bypass road in Lautoka yesterday at 6am.

“Due to the impact of the accident, the vehicle caught fire, but unfortu­nately the two victims were trapped inside. Our investigations contin­ue,” she said.

National Fire Authority (NFA) stated that the Lautaka Fire Station received a Road Accident Rescue (RAR) call at 6.10am.

They said that upon arrival at the scene, they found the taxi had veered off the road and plugged into a tree.

“It was already fully engulfed with flames with two passengers trapped inside the vehicle,” the statement from the NFA said.

“During investigation, informa­tion gathered at the scene revealed by an eye witness that the taxi was travelling from Nadi towards Lauto­ka at an extremely high speed before it actually loss control, veered to the road side and plunged itself into the tree and immediately caught fire.

“The brigade assisted the Police in extracting the bodies through the use of our car rescue tools hydrau­lic spreader to cut open the vehicle to allow the bodies to be extracted. Unfortunately, the two bodies were badly burned and beyond recogni­tion whether they are male or fe­male. The Police are handling all other investigation.”

The late Mr Nand is survived by his wife, two daughters and two grandchildren.

Police forensics team assist in towing away the burnt vehicle along the Viseisei stretch in Vuda, Lautoka on September 5, 2022. Photo: Nicolette Chambers

Another Road Accident, Vehicle Fire

The NFA also said there was anoth­er road accident rescue yesterday, this time in Suva.

National Fire Authority Chief Exec­utive Officer Puamau Sowane said: “The Valelevu Fire Station received a call from our Command Centre at 7.54am reporting a Car Fire at Noko­noko Road, Laucala Beach and de­ployed our rescue team and arrived at 8.02am.”

He said they found the vehicle’s engine compartment engulfed with flames, but no one was injured.

Feedback: nicolette.chambers@fijisun.com.fj