Accident Scares Residents
Residents of Vutuni, Ba are terrified after witnessing a scary accident involving a cane truck which has happened for the second time in the area.
Aliti Vosalevu, who lives close to the site of the accident, said she had seen the cane truck struggle to accelerate on the steep cliff.
“I saw the truck moving backwards and the driver trying very hard to control it,” she said.
“It looked like he could not maintain control because the truck slid right into the river.” Mrs Vosalevu said that it was around 4pm and as she ran to the site of the accident, she saw the driver.
“He was a man in his 20s,” she said. “I immediately called my husband, Mohammed Saheen, to the scene.”
Mr Saheen said that the driver got off the truck safely, tried to make a phone call, but had been unsuccessful.
“Then he just left,” he said.
“I talked with the driver and noticed that he was not injured.”
However, the accident has created a growing fear because a similar accident happened last year in the same area. “A similar accident involving a cane truck happened last year,” Mr Saheen said.
“We are getting frightened by these kinds of accidents.”
Mr Saheen said he had been watering his plantation right beside the river when a similar incident happened last year.
He said the elevation of the road leading to the bridge had been quite steep therefore creating problems for heavy vehicles such as cane trucks.
He has also urged all drivers to be careful while approaching the bridge.