Young friends in fatal car crash
HIS eyes full of tears, Teddy Arumugam took in slow, deep breaths as he spoke of the loss of his only son, Jordon. The young man and his friend, Aleandro Naidoo, burnt to death when the Mazda hatchback in which they were travelling overturned and burst into flames in uMhlanga on Saturday night.
Both 24 and from Phoenix, they had been friends since high school.
Their deaths came two months after another pair of friends, Suveer Sookoo, 29, and Shaylen Mudali, 26, burnt to death when the V8 Mercedes-AMG C 63 that Sookoo was driving burst into flames after crashing into a tree on the M4, not far from Saturday’s tragedy.
Mudali was Facebook friends with Naidoo.
Arumugam said Jordan had left home around 2pm on Saturday for the Gateway mall.
“He left home in his vehicle, a Jeep, but I think after he was done, he met with Aleandro and decided to park his car in uMhlanga. They went in Aleandro’s car to go play pool in the area. Around 9.30pm, I received a call from police telling me I needed to come out to the scene,” he said.
“During the drive to the scene with my wife, Kathy, I told her to prepare for the worst. I knew if my son was well he would have called me himself. When we arrived at the scene I was in shock. His body was severely burnt and the car was in a bad state.”
The father of four said seeing his son in that condition was the worst thing ever.
“These past few days have been very hard for us. My wife is struggling to accept his death. Jordan was our baby. After matriculating from Greenbury Secondary School, he joined our family business.”
He described his son as someone who was responsible and respectable.
“Last Saturday, during a family get-together, he got the entire family to come outside the house and he recorded us waving goodbye at him with his drone. Now that I think about it, that simple act was so symbolic.”
While Naidoo’s family have declined to comment on the tragedy, his friends took to his Facebook page to pay their respects.
Michael Julian Maistry posted: “Rest easy soldier Aleandro Alé Naidoo. You were too genuine for this world my brother. Live it up, up in heaven.”
Anika Ann Aryeh Sivalingum wrote: “Words cannot explain how much pain I have in my heart and soul. I cannot believe you’re gone… I miss you so much… Heaven has gained an Angel but stole my brother.”
Meanwhile, a Phoenix businesswoman is still in a coma, a week after her mother-in-law died when the car in which they were travelling was involved in a head-on collision with a truck on Umhlangane Road near Avoca.
Grandmother of five, Shanta Bisnath, 59; her daughter-in-law, Nicki Bisnath, 26; and Shanta’s brother, Leslie Kisten, 25, were returning home from a funeral last Wednesday when tragedy struck.
Shanta sustained severe head injuries and died at the scene and Nicki suffered broken ribs, fingers and a severe blow to her head.
Kisten, who was driving the Nissan Sentra, and the truck driver both escaped with minor injuries.
A relative, Rowen Singh, said: “It is hard to believe Shanta is gone. She was a lovely, humble person.
“We celebrated her birthday (just) days before the accident and planned on sending her to India for a holiday next year. She always wanted to visit the country.”
Two weeks ago, housewife Naveena Maharaj, 48, died in a-three car pile-up on Hans Dettman Highway.
Maharaj was travelling to her Northdene home with her youngest son, Shivaan, 14, a Grade 8 pupil at Wingen Heights Secondary, after attending a school meeting.
Maharaj died at the scene and Shivaan spent five days in hospital before succumbing to his injuries.