Man thankful family survives accident
ALabasa man is thankful a few members of his family are alive and well after a freak accident in which their car slid into the Bulileka River on Sunday.
Amitabh Chand 43 of Urata, Labasa, said the family members were lucky to survive the horrific accident.
He says they were also lucky to be saved by bystanders at the scene. It was about 11am on Sunday with the family of six travelling to attend the final day of Ram Leela celebrations when the accident happened. “I saw a vehicle coming in front of me and I tried to avoid any accident,” he said.
As a result, Mr Chand’s vehicle went right into the river.
He said the impact left him unconscious and the next thing he remembered was waking up at Labasa Hospital.
“Suddenly I regained my consciousness and the first thing I asked the doctors was where my children were,” he said.
Mr Chand said doctors assured him that his children were alright and suffered only minor injuries.
He was also told that the family had been saved by people living nearby.
One of the good Samaritans, Chandra Balak, 60, who lives close to the river, said that when he first heard a loud noise he knew something catastrophic had happened.
“I ran to the river and saw the vehicle under water,” he said. “I immediately went into the river to check and saw members of the family struggling to get out.” Mr Balak said he helped the family members move out safely with the help of some other people as well.
“For once I thought they were dead, but lucky no one got hurt,” he said.
Mr Chand had his four children and his mother inside the vehicle during the time of the incident. Everyone was taken to the Labasa Hospital and Mr Chand, his mother and his two daughters were discharged yesterday while two other children remain admitted to the hospital.
“But they are doing well,” said Mr Chand.