A 20-year-old died early this morning after the car he was in lost control and collided with another. Dead is Christopher Crawford of Mahdia.
According to Traffic Chief Neil Semple, “Two vehicles were on Mandela Avenue in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens one was heading south and the other north. The one going south lost control and swerved and collided with the other car.”
The collision resulted in the death of Crawford who Semple said was a passenger in the front seat of the car. The point of impact was on Crawford’s side, Semple added.
According to reports, the accident was said to have occurred some time around 5am yesterday. Crawford was in a Toyota Allex, PLL 6787 which collided with CRV, PHH 2814, belonging to John Fernandes Limited and driven by Shawn Gonsalves.
The drivers of both vehicles were taken to the hospital for treatment but according to a source at the GPHC, no one was admitted.
The car which Crawford was in was said to have been driven by a teenager who was speeding. Further reports are that the fire service had to be called in to cut the car to remove Crawford who was already dead.
Yesterday via the telephone, Crawford’s mother, Gloria Mark said that she received the news of her son’s death around 6am. Another son called to tell her the tragic news. Mark said that she last spoke to her son on Friday afternoon.
“I went down last week for a convention and I saw him yesterday [Friday] afternoon.
He give me money to pay passage and he hug me up for five minutes and then he tell me he going,” Mark said breaking into tears. “Is me alone here I can’t tek it anymore,” she sobbed over the phone.
She said that she was told the accident occurred some time around 3am Saturday. “He went with he friends outing and when they going back home they had the accident,” Mark said.
Crawford worked as a porter on jeeps going into the interior, she told this newspaper. She added that her son was well known in the community:
“Madhia was shock to hear that he got accident.” Some family members who went to view the body at the Georgetown Hospital morgue told her that “he head bus up and he foot break up”. Crawford’s father had left Mahdia yesterday to come to Georgetown after receiving the news of his son’s death.
“He’s a handsome looking boy. He was a friend to everybody. He’s a happy boy every time he always smiling and laughing and happy,” Mark said. Crawford was the second to last of four boys his mother said.
