A man who survived the fatal crash last weekend at Leulumoega has lived to tell the tale of his harrowing escape.

The Leulumoega man, who did not wish to be identified, told the Samoa Observer in an interview that he was on his way to a gathering when he came across a red Ford Ranger on the road.

He put on his indicator to show his intention to overtake the vehicle when he saw it was clear ahead, and it was during his attempt to overtake when the accident happened. 

With his indicator on to signal his intention to overtake, he turned his wheels to take his white Toyota Hilux past the Ford Ranger, when the other truck suddenly turned right and hit his vehicle bonnet from the side, resulting in him losing control. 

“The red Ford Ranger car turned back into my vehicle and I saw there was no other way I could go and the truck hit the front left side of my car, which I know I could not control,” he said.

When he lost control, he said his truck’s back tyres ended up in the grass next to the road, and he found himself under the trees next to the road but still in his seat. He said he was still seated in the truck when he awoke but his vehicle was damaged from the impact of the crash.

“I thought that I was the only one who was affected because it was my car that got hit and turned over and the Ford Ranger car had a clear road,” he added.

The red Ford Ranger ended up further down the road, as he said he heard people – who saw the accident – say that another truck had turned over further down. 

The man, who is a chief in his community, said he was on his way to a gathering at Leulumoega when the collision with the other vehicle occurred between 1.30–2.30 pm last Saturday afternoon. 

As a chief in his village, he said he was asked to look into a report of men in a taxi drinking at a road intersection, and he stopped to pick another chief on his way to the area. 

The other chief was not at home so he went by himself to investigate the report of the sighting, when the accident happened. 

“I went to the four people who were drinking in a taxi vehicle at the intersection road here in our village, which is different from the red Ford Ranger vehicle, which is when the accident happened,” he said. “At that time it was only me and my kids at home and my wife was attending women meeting so I left my kids to stay home, while I went to attend to the matter that was reported to me.”

Police investigations are continuing into the crash which claimed one life.