(Trinidad Express) The fire ignited by a fallen transformer, not the collision injuries, led to the death of Michael Bradshaw, Djenne Hills-Dyer, two of the four victims of a fiery crash on Thursday.
Bradshaw died as a result of smoke inhalation an autopsy found, and his father Vernon Bradshaw said that his son’s death was a result of negligence by the State.
“T&TEC officials are saying that the pole was 100 feet from the road but if that was so, then this would have never happened”, said the grieving father.
La Toya Hills, the mother of Hills-Dyer, said that the autopsy showed that her daughter died of smoke inhalation, and had no physical injuries.
“She was burnt. We identified her by a tattoo on her side. It was only smoke inhalation – no internal injuries, no blunt force trauma or anything”, said Hills.
The mother declined further comment on whether or not the electrical pole was at a safe distance from traffic.
Vernon Bradshaw said that that he had seen video footage after the crash which showed that his son and at least two others were alive in the vehicle after it collided with the utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway.
Bradshaw, former national and W Connection footballer Shahdon Winchester, 27, Djenne Hills-Dyer, 30, and Keston Nicholas, 22, died in the crash.
Bradshaw, 21, was seated in the backseat of Winchester’s Nissan Qashqai SUV when it crashed on the south-bound lane of the highway in the vicinty of Gasparillo around 5.30 a.m.
There are no guard rails or cable barriers in that area considered a highway ‘black spot’ where several fatal crashes have happened over the years.
The vehicle slammed, rear end first, into a T&TEC pole, bringing down a 50,000-volt transformer and live wires.
With the bodies still inside the charred vehicle, it was wrecked to a funeral home, where undertakers extricated the remains.
When the Express contacted the relatives of Winchester and Nicholas, they said that they had not yet received the results of the autopsies.
Vernon Bradshaw said that he saw video footage of the crash and he believed that his son should have survived.
The autopsy found that Bradshaw also sustained a broken pelvic bone.
“I saw a video showing Michael, Keston and Shadon were alive and making efforts to come out of the vehicle before the fire. The fire services and ambulance were already at the scene. The firemen were making preparations to get them out of the vehicle when the transformer fell on the vehicle and it burst into flames. The car did not burn out entirely because the fire officers were there before the fire started, so they were able to extinguish it, but were not able to save them”, said Vernon Bradshaw.
Vernon Bradshaw said that T&TEC officials were at Forensic Science Centre when the autopsies were done on Friday.
“I would like to know why they were there”, he said. “I believe T&TEC should answer some questions about the positioning of the electrical pole, and whether it was placed at the distance which posed a risk to people”,he said.
Vernon Bradshaw said he would be seeking legal advice on the issue.
Road safety advocacy group Arrive Alive issued a statement on Thursday stating that electricity poles were installed too close to traffic.
Arrive Alive stated that it was “deeply troubled at the lack of standards for the design, and construction of our roads and it’s furniture like these concrete electricity poles installed too close to traffic. This standard is NOT in keeping with the UN ‘more forgiving’ roads.”
The group called on the government to remove all electricity poles planted close to the roadway.
