Speed collision at Tuana’i

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia 06 August 2016, 12:00AM

Speed is suspected to have been the cause of a collision between two cars and a full bus at Tuana’i village yesterday afternoon. 

A passenger on the Manono bus, Ielu Elia, said the bus was heading from Apia to Manono when the collision happened.

 “The other two cars that crashed into the bus were coming from Afega going to Apia,” said Mr. Elia. 

“One car was trying to overtake the one in front of them when it saw that the bus was coming towards them…it was at that time that our bus driver tried to pull over to the side of the road but it was too late.

“The speeding car was going too fast then it crashed into the back of our bus taking off the wheels.”

According to Mr. Elia some of the passengers received minor injuries and were not taken to the hospital. 

“It was the passengers in the speeding car that were rushed to the hospital.”

A villager of Tuanai, Saimoli Tavui was one of the first people at the scene. 

Mr. Tavui who lives across from where the accident happened said the collision happened so quickly. He was sitting in his house when he heard a loud bang and his children called to him that there was an accident. 

“I came down here and saw that one of the cars has swirled off the road with major damages,” he said. 

“There were two men in the car that we suspect was speeding and helped them out of the car. I didn’t want to look at them, one had his arm broken and crushed while the other man he was had multiple injuries to his back.”

The father added from what he saw, the men were in a critical condition. 

It was not possible to get an official comment from the Emergency and Accident department at the Moto’otua hospital. 

The doctor in charge, Leituala Dr. Ben Matalavea was not immediately available. 

Back at the scene in Tuanai, the small car that is suspected of overtaking the second car had major damage to the front with a crushed engine. 

The passengers in the other car that was in the collision were uninjured.

As for the bus, the back wheels were off leaving the front wheels and the bus chassis.  Several policemen and Land and Transport Authority officers were at the scene yesterday. 

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia 06 August 2016, 12:00AM

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