(Trinidad Guardian) Before dawn yesterday, a phone call from Crystal Baboolal’s cell phone came through to her father, Frank Baboolal.
He answered, expecting to simply give the assurance to his 28-year-old daughter, that he had left the door open for her as she had asked.
Instead, he received news from an unfamiliar voice on the other end, that her daughter had died in an accident along the Uriah Butler Highway near to the Divali Nagar.
The 66-year-old man told reporters that her daughter had been staying with her boyfriend on most days, but on Saturday she had come to his home in Cane Farm, Arouca, on Saturday evening to wash clothes.
Before she left his home with her boyfriend, she told her father that she would be coming back in the morning and had asked him to leave the door open for her.
She was his only child, who he had raised as a single father since she was four years old after his relationship with her mother could not be saved.
Baboolal, Michael Ashton, 36, of Lower Santa Cruz, and Michael Walters, 20, of Laventille Road, San Juan, died after a Nissan Tiida heading north along the highway reportedly hit the back of a dump truck driven by a police officer attached the St Clair Police Station.
Police suspect the driver of the Tiida fell asleep at the wheel.
Ashton’s relatives were too distraught to speak with members of the media yesterday.
Walters relatives said they learned of his passing after the news of the accident broke on social media.
They described the 20-year-old as a good boy who had a bright future ahead of him.
Relatives said all they knew when Walters left on Saturday was that he was heading out for “a lime.”
Baboolal was remembered by friends on social media as a girl who liked to model and dance.
Investigators believe the trio were returning from a lime in South Trinidad when the tragedy befell them.
Corporal Mohammed, of the Chaguanas Police Station, is investigating the incident.
In a release yesterday evening, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service extended condolences to the families of the victims.
The TTPS said it “notes with concern the trauma associated with unfortunate events such as these and appeals to motorists to be reminded of the importance of keeping safe and alert when driving on the nation’s roadways.
In adhering to road safety regulations and practices, the TTPS stresses that these will aid in preventing tragedies of similar nature from occurring.”
The TTPS released confirmed that 71 persons have lost their lives in road traffic accidents for the year, compared to 97 for the same period last year.
This TTPS said accounts for a 27 per cent reduction in road fatalities.
