(Trinidad Express) Two brothers and one of their cousins lost their lives when the vehicle they were travelling in crashed into a bar at the corner of New and Charlotte Streets, Port of Spain early yesterday.
The men have been identified by relatives as brothers Kevon “Gogg” James, 22; Anthony Stephan “Chicky” James, 20; and their cousin Kerry “Pie Peng” Joseph, 19; all of Upper Wharton Street, Laventille.
Patrick Rennie, the driver of the Nissan B-12 vehicle and friend of the deceased, up to late yesterday was listed in critical condition at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
Kerry, Kevon and Anthony died at the scene of the crash and fire officers had to cut the vehicle to allow undertakers to remove the bodies of the victims from the wreckage.
The car crash occurred shortly after 4 a.m. while the men were returning to their home from a party they attended at a club in Maraval.
Rennie, who also lives at Wharton Street, Laventille, reportedly lost control of the vehicle while proceeding south along Charlotte Street, causing the car to crash into The Original Soup Home Restaurant and Bar at the corner of New and Charlotte Streets.
He was taken to the hospital, located metres away, where he was treated and warded.
Chevon Knott, a cousin of the deceased, spoke with the Sunday Express outside their Laventille home yesterday and stated the incident came as a shock to everyone.
He said he had attended the party but left before his cousins and sometime after he got home, he was told of the tragedy.
“…I was thinking that somebody probably break a hand or a foot or something like that but I was never expecting to find out that all three of them died in the accident,” Knott said.
He said the deaths of the victims was a tremendous loss to the relatives and community.
“All of us up here very close. I have a lot of cousins and we are all very close and they wasn’t into any kind of stupidness. They go to school, some work, and everybody just love each other and it was a real shock this (yesterday) morning for everybody to hear about this and what happened down there,” Knott added.
Knott also blamed poor road conditions for several accidents in which persons are killed, saying that speed isn’t the only contributor. He called for effective and efficient maintenance and monitoring of road works.
He said, “It’s not only speeding that’s causing these horrific accidents but very poor work done by these contractors as well. A lot of roads are very poor and apparently there are no checks and balances or any means to assess the work done by these contractors as well.”
“The Ministry of Works needs to look at this closely because the highways and a lot of major roads are poorly built and designed. How can water be settling on the nation’s highways? Why are so many roads burdened with holes and bumps? Why aren’t the roads designed and built to allow water to effortlessly run or drain off? There are a lot more questions to be asked and answered and that area of Charlotte Street is in terrible condition as well,” Knott said.
He said Kevon and Anthony lost their parents several years ago and their grandmother, Christine James, took care of them as her own children.
Joseph’s mom, he said, had been crying and has not been able to come to terms with the incident since she heard of it.
“Everyone just real shock and as I say it’s not really one, it’s three (of them killed) at the same time.”
Cpl Neptune of the Central Police Station is probing the incident.
