(Trinidad Guardian) Bar owner Vera Boopsingh stopped to help a motorist after his car crashed at the Gasparillo Overpass on Saturday night.
But when she got out of her vehicle and went to the site of the wreckage, she realised the dead motorist was her elder brother Kamal Bhopsingh.
Vera says her mind went blank when she realised it was her dear brother.
“I think I heard him moan and that could have been his last breath. He looked like he was sleeping. There was a slight cut on his forehead. I don’t know if he really moaned or if I imagined it. When the police came, I couldn’t remember anything after that,” Vera recalled.
Bhopsingh, 38, of Mt Pleasant Road Springvale, Claxton Bay, was proceeding along the highway at around 11.35 pm when he reportedly lost control of his black Nissan Wingroad and hit the iron railing on the bridge.
He flew out of his car and landed on the western side of the highway.
Vera said her brother would have celebrated his 39th birthday next Sunday.
“He wanted to go to Caura and cook. That was his plan,” she said.
She said she last spoke to her brother on Saturday at noon. He then went to spend some time with his girlfriend at Calcutta, Chase Village, Chaguanas.
“He told us when his girlfriend finished work, he would pick her up and they were going Pennywise. He left her home at quarter to eleven to come home,” Vera said.
She said the area where Bhopsingh died often had accidents.
“We need better infrastructure. In that area, there is a bump on the highway and even if you are going at a reasonable speed it is very easy to lose control of your vehicle. This is in the vicinity of the Guaracara River,” Vera said.
She said 98 per cent of the accidents that occur near the Gasparillo Flyover to Freeport are fatal.
Vera said Bhopsingh was a simple person.
“He planned to build over his house. With COVID and the lockdown, he was home and he now started to get back into working life. He is a truck driver and he is into construction. He planned to build over his house this year. He was married and divorced but he has a girlfriend,” she said.
Another sister, Parbatie Bhupsingh, said her brother was kind-hearted and loving.
“All he did was work. He was a nice person,” Parbatie said.
Bhopsingh’s father Anthony Bhopsingh said he was devastated by the loss of his son.
“He was a good boy, very nice and hard working,” Anthony said.
He added that his wife Tara died five years ago