'HAVING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS': NABOU CRASH SURVIVORS TELL OF HORROR ALONG QUEENS ROAD ON SATURDAY
'I don’t want to remember it, but I woke up many times in the night and I could still see the faces of those men, bleeding all over'
Daven Chandra, 57, (right) an operations manager at the Yatule Resort and Spa in Natadola was with his wife, Angela Chandra, 55, was in the third vehicle involved in the horrific three-vehicle smash-up at Nabou, midway between Sigatoka and Nadi.
The couple escaped unhurt despite their vehicle being hit by one of the two vehicles which crashed.
Mr Singh, who witnessed the tragic accident on Saturday morning that left six people dead on the Queens Road, says he is having sleepless nights.
He also says the minivan was not to blame.
A57-year-old man of Nadi who witnessed the tragic accident last Saturday morning that left six people dead on the Queens Road is having sleepless nights.
Daven Chandra, an operations manager at the Yatule Resort and Spa in Natadola was with his wife, Angela Chandra, 55, in the third vehicle involved in the horrific threevehicle smash at Nabou, midway between Sigatoka and Nadi.
The couple escaped unhurt despite crashing their vehicle.
Mr Chandra recounted the incident to the Fiji Sun at his residence at Malolo, Nadi, yesterday.
“I was on my way to work that morning with my wife,” he said.
“I remember the minibus. They overtook me at Momi and I was behind them all the way until the accident.
“When we crossed the bridge a few metres, I saw the Grace Farm vehicle collide headon with the minivan, which was in front of me. It was so sudden and the back of the truck hit the side of the van.
"It was then airborne before it landed in front of my vehicle. Luckily it did not fall over me, otherwise we would have died too.
“I don’t want to remember it, but I woke up many times in the night and I could still see the faces of those men, bleeding all over.”
Mr Chandra said he wanted to set the story straight about the incident.
“I heard in the news that the minivan overtook another vehicle, but no I was behind the minivan and it was not their fault,” he said.
“There were a lot of stories, but I was the only driver witness alive from that tragic incident.
“It was something like from a movie and I cannot understand what happened. I was about two car lengths away, but travelling at the same speed.
“It is sad to see that a lot of young men died and they were innocent too.”
He said he had never faced such a tragic incident in his 57 years. Meanwhile, Ratu Navula College teacher Alumeci Raratabu posted on her Facebook account and said: “The hostel students held a service to remember the lives of the late student Marika Rua, 16 who stayed with them in the Hostel beginning of this year and also the late OBs in their service today. “We also prayed for the speedy recovery of their brothers and OB in the hospital. #NavulaAtHeartAlways.”
Furthermore, families and friends of the victims from Natalecake, Nailaga, Sabeto and Narewa and Yavusania were present in big numbers at the Lautoka Hospital to donate blood.
After the Powerade Rugby Deans semifinals on Ratu Navula College U-18 team stopped by at the crash site to pay their respects to those who had died. Passers by also began laying flowers and banners at the site too.
Yesterday, Ratu Navula College in Nadi and Cuvu College in Nadroga both held a service in memory of the same.
After the Powerade Rugby Deans semifinals on Ratu Navula College U-18 team stopped by at the crash site to pay their respects to those who had died. Passers by also began laying flowers and banners at the site too.