Distraught Mother of Five Tells
Isa, noqu Ta! (Oh my dad!) These were the painful words uttered by five-year-old Jone Bulutani, who lost his father and his grandmother in a freak road accident along Tacirua on Sunday afternoon.
He was holding onto his father’s picture as his mother, Olivia Lele Bulutani, retold the tragic moments of losing her husband and mother-in-law.
Ledua Bulutani, 39, and his mother, Emele Waqairatu, 62, died at the scene while three others in the vehicle were treated at the hospital for minor injuries.
Ms Bulutani said: “They were on their way back from the Young People’s Department (YPD) in Davuilevu to drop off a relative’s lunch.
“Around 3pm one of my sisters called and asked me to call my husband and check because she heard about an accident and that the car was likely to be ours.
“I called my two younger brothers and they told me that they were already at the scene of the accident. “I just couldn’t sit at home when I heard of the accident so I took my eldest son and we both went to Tacirua.
“When I arrived at the scene I saw the wreckage and I saw my husband.
“When my brother saw me arriving at the scene he was angry because he didn’t want me to see the scene and how bad it was.
“I told him that I couldn’t leave him that way.
“I never ever thought that he was just
going to leave us this early, and not on Father’s Sunday.”
The late Mr Bulutani was a seaman working for Transman (Fiji) Pte Ltd Agencies. His mother had just retired from Castaway Island Resort two months ago.
“We had big plans for our boys but I will have to make sure that I fulfil them all in his memory,” Ms
Bulutani said.
According to Police, the driver of the vehicle had allegedly lost control of the vehicle causing it to veer off the road. It hit a house before plummeting down a cliff.
The national road death toll stands at 22 compared to 38 for the same period last year.