Safety issue! July 22, 2013 | Filed under: Fiji News | Posted by: newsroom John Kean with daughters Mere and Mereani Kean (right) explain unusual experience following the accident at Vakabalea settlement in Navua. Photo: RONALD KUMAR Motorists want road fenders and signs erected near crash site By LOSALINI RASOQOSOQO The discovery of the missing car containing two bodies in a creek in Navua has people raising questions of road safety at that spot. For a month, the two people who were reported missing on June 21 – Krishna Swamy Naidu and Ella Joan Blakelock – were lying dead inside their mangled car underwater in the creek. They were not the first people to have died at this spot on the Queens highway, local residents say. With the Queens highway running over the creek, no one could tell that there is a bridge in place or if there is a creek until they come on it. The bridge practically has no roadside fenders nor are there any cautious road sign to warn drivers that they are approaching a creek that has the water surface covered with water hyacinth. Fifteen years ago, Police had recovered the bodies of a man and his young son inside their car at the exact location in question. “This place is really dangerous because you can’t tell that there is a bridge here. There are no railings on the side of the bridge to act as barrier or at least to indicate the bridge to the people to avoid such incident,” Rehana Khan of Navua said. “I live in Navua and we use this road often so we are aware of this place but people who are not from here or use this road often wouldn’t be aware of the bridge.” Bobby Kumar, 35, said the right thing to do is to construct fenders on opposite ends of the road running over the bridge. “At least there should be an indication too here to caution drivers especially when the bridge is without any railings,” he said. Fiji Roads Authority chief executive officer Neil Cook told Fiji Sun he was not aware of the specifics of the site but if it had a history of accidents then they would certainly look at ways to address it so that the road environment is safe for all. Police have confirmed that the director of Capture Fiji Krishna Swamy Naidu, 40 and his employee Ella Blakelock, 44, were in the car that was pulled out from the creek. Mr Naidu and Ms Blakelock left Suva on June 19 on a work trip along the Queens Road to Lautoka. After measuring billboards in Sigatoka and Nadi, they arrived at Mr Naidu’s nephew’s home in Field 40, Lautoka at about 10:15pm. They left Field 40 at about 10:45pm for Lautoka Hospital to measure a billboard and then headed back to Suva. Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said they were last seen in Field 40 on the night of June 19 and were reported missing on June 21. UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES A resident living in the surrounding area spoke of his experiences starting from the night of the alleged accident. John Kean moved in to the area last year to live with his family at their farm house, located about 50 metres from the accident site. He said that on the morning of June 20, which was raining, he was returning from a kava session at a neighbour’s house. While the wife was preparing his meal he heard a loud noise coming from the road. He said it sounded like a tyre exploding between 1.30am and 2.30am. “I told my wife that it must have been a tyre of a 10-wheeler truck because we are used to such noise coming from the highway,” he said. “About a week later we went to fish for eels on the creek. We noticed the tyre marks leading to the river but I thought it was just a driver or passenger stopping over for a drink. We noticed cracks on the bridge wall and saw a car battery in the culvert. “My son went down to put the sack of chicken guts (smell is to attract the eels) and lifted the battery to put on top of it. (Battery must have fallen off when the car hit the edge of the bridge). We caught more than 50 eels on that day. People say its the first time that we’ve had a such a big catch at the spot. For about one week we fished there and distributed the catch to the neighbours. “We did not see anything but sometimes our fishing line would get caught and we thought there were branches down there. It was probably stuck in the car.” HAUNTED AREA Mr Kean also claims the area is haunted. Backed by his daughter Mere, he said they were used to hearing babies crying and voices outside as if people were talking. On the night of July 19 when the bodies were removed from the creek, Mr Kean said they were constantly awakened by the sound of their dogs howling as if someone was beating them up. “We have six big dogs and people around here are scared of them. My daughters did not sleep because we constantly heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and the tap below was running on its own. “It was really scary,” his daughter Mere said.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 07:48:17 +0000
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