3 Dead on Road, 1 Missing at Sea
A day away from Christmas eve... Truck crashes over car that leaves Wati’s husband, brother dead
The last thing that Kamla Wati did for her husband, Vijay Kumar, and brother Rati Bhan, yesterday was serve them a roti parcel each.
Mr Kumar and Mr Bhan died minutes later after a car-truck crash at Kalokolevu, Naboro.
Forty-seven years of marriage ended in a tragic road accident yesterday for Kamla Wati. That is how Ms Wati felt after her husband, Vijay Kumar, 68, died after car-truck collision near Kalokolevu Village, Naboro, yesterday.
Also dead is Ms Wati’s brother, Rati Bhan, 58, who was in the car with Mr Kumar at the time.
“I remember the last roti parcel I served my brother and my husband,” an emotional Ms Wati told
Fiji Sun yesterday. “I really miss my husband, I saw him hurt and dying in front of me, and it hurts because I could not do anything,” she cried.
“I also gave him a shopping list to buy some groceries for Christmas.”
The 68-year-old tailor couldn’t bear the pain of losing two loved ones in a day. The brother-in-laws were in a maroon private car that collided with a Blue Gas Tanker just after Kalokolevu Village in Naboro. 0U .XPDU VROG åVK IRU KLV OLYHOLhood and would always buy it from his brother-in-law, Mr Bhan, who is D åVKHUPDQ Ms Wati said yesterday morning they had called up her brother beFDXVH VRPHRQH VWROH åVK IURP WKHLU home on Wednesday night. “They came home and I cooked them lunch. I gave them roti parcels and they hurriedly ate and left,” she said. Mrs Wati said the two were rushing to Lami Town to buy ice cubes and just when they were pulling out of their driveway the incident happened. Mr Kumar had bought a washing machine as an advance Christmas gift for Ms Wati two days earlier, which she was also crying about yesterday. “He bought a surprise gift and I did not know that he had been saving money for some time just to purchase the washing machine. It’s really painful,” she said. According to Mrs Wati, her brother, who was driving, died on the spot while her husband died just when they reached the emergency unit at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital. A witness said: “The tank driver might not have seen the car that was pulling out from the driveway.” “The two men might not have seen the oncoming tanker as well because their view may have been blocked by cars parked on the side of the road.” Ms Wati and the husband have been living at Naboro for the past nine months. 7KH\ KDYH åYH FKLOGUHQ WKUHH DUH living overseas.
I really miss my husband, I saw him hurt and dying in front of me, and it hurts because I could not do anything. Kamla Wati Wife of Vijay Kumar