While many families across the country gather to celebrate Palm Sunday, one family from Naduri Village in Macuata is mourning the tragic loss of two loved ones who died in a horrific road accident.
The victims have been identified as Sakiusa Ravasua and a one-year-old child. The accident occurred along the Labasa-Nabouwalu highway on Friday night.
The Fiji Police Force said the man was driving a rental vehicle when he allegedly attempted to overtake another car and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle.
“The one-year-old child travelling in the same vehicle sustained serious injuries, whereby he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Seaqaqa Health Centre.”
Three other passengers in the same vehicle were injured and were treated at Labasa Hospital while the driver of the other vehicle was treated and later discharged.
Family member Sereima Taleimailodoni said the news came as a shock.
“I was at home. We were all shocked to hear about the accident,” she said.
Ms Taleimailodoni said they did not know where they were returning from when the incident occurred.
“It is one of the news that is hard for us to hear,” she said.
She said the father of the one-year-old was one of the three in critical condition at the hospital.
“We hope they will recover from this accident.”
Eyewitness Max Rayawa described the scene as one of the most horrifying he had ever witnessed.
“One of the victims had been thrown through the windshield,” he said.
At the hospital, Mr Rayawa said the doctor was attending to one of the survivors, while a nurse was told to cover the body of the little boy who had died.
“Since the room was crowded, the nurse asked me to cover the child. It was one of the hardest and most heartbreaking things I’ve ever had to do.
“Just imagine how this mother will feel when she received the news, only a day before Palm Sunday.”
The national road death toll now stands at 10, compared to 17 for the same period last year.
