Powder Magazine crash victim's funeral set for Friday

Kareem Abdul, who died in a car crash on Christmas Day, will be buried at Western Cemetery on Friday after his funeral at the St James Mosque, starting at 11 am.

Abdul is believed to have died almost instantly when his car crashed into a large boulder on a  patch of grass near Powder Magazine Phase 2, Diego Martin.

An autopsy will be done on Thursday, the family was told, owing to a backup of bodies from the long holiday weekend.

Four Roads Police are investigating the accident.

Newsday spoke with Abdul’s mother Lucy Abdul after she viewed his body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Wednesday morning.

“It was hard,” Abdul said. “But we’re all strong.”

She reiterated the family’s call for the removal of the boulders.

“I’m thinking of (delivering) a petition to the corporation to have them remove it,” Abdul said.

Although the boulders have been visible at the entrance to Diego Martin for years, it is unclear whether they serve an aesthetic purpose or otherwise. Newsday was unable to reach Diego Martin mayor Akeliah Glasgow-Warner to ascertain whether the council would consider having the boulder removed and the steps necessary to do so.

Abdul said while the boulders add to the risk of death in the event of an accident, the cause of accidents in the area may not have a simple explanation.

She said she had been involved in an accident there many years ago after returning home from work and she believes there is something eerie responsible for her and many other accidents that have taken place nearby.

“I and all in the past had an accident right there, too. I didn’t hit the boulder (though),” Abdul told Newsday after a visit to the site on Wednesday, where some debris from her son's car remained.

“I born and grow up in Diego Martin, and ever since I know myself, coming down by that corner there have a spirit, and I hear stories about it, too.

“I don’t know if it have a jumbie under there, some kind of spirit. Maybe not a spirit, but forces.”

She recalled her near-death experience, saying, “I coming down with my car, normal, driving, and just so my car take (a skid), too, run up (the hill) and down, and I just happened to live.”

In her son's case, she said the suggestion he may have fallen asleep on the wheel was somewhat “confusing,” even though skid marks did not seem to be evident at the crash site, and chose not to speculate about the cause of his loss of control.

Abdul said she would rather the police do a proper and thorough investigation than a quick but substandard one.

Newsday called three numbers provided by 999 for the Four Roads Police Station for an update on the investigation. Calls to one number went unanswered, while the other two appeared no longer to be in service.