Driver dies after turning to avoid hitting woman

Rousillac resident Umesh Deonarine died at hospital after he crashed his car while trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian in St Margaret's on Friday night.

According to St Margaret police, Deonarine, 40, slammed into a concrete wall and suffered fatal injuries. He was driving a Honda Civic in a southerly direction along Southern Main Road when the vehicle collided into a wall at Mohammed's Poultry Depot. The airbags deployed but Deonarine's legs were crushed and he was trapped.

An ambulance took Deonarine to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died while being treated.

Alderman at Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation, Ravi Ratiram, a cousin of Deonarine, posted about the accident on Facebook. He first got the news of Deonarine's death on the social media site.

"Cousin, you have been a great person always putting others first and always willing to help. Today you have been freed from this world of pain and suffering and God has called you home," Ratiram wrote.

Ratiram said he was told Deonarine swerved to avoid hitting a woman.

“After having to hear from an eyewitness that he pulled away from bouncing a woman who walked out onto the roadway, he tried to save her and sacrificed himself. I had to hear how they had wrecked his car and take it to the St Margaret Police Station, then view a video of you battling to breathe,” Ratiram said. He said family and friends are heartbroken over the untimely passing of Deonarine.

Ag Cpl Richardson of St Margaret's police is investigating.