[UPDATED] Poorly lit highway blamed for prison officer's deadly crash

A poorly lit roadway near a construction site on the Solomon Hochoy Highway, Freeport, is being blamed for the death of prison officer Richard Ali, who crashed into a truck parked on the side of the road shortly after midnight on November 26.

The 43-year-old Prison Officer 11, of Hosein Street, Dow Village, California, died on impact when his Mitsubishi Lancer crashed into a truck parked on the southbound lane of the highway, near T&TEC. The incident occurred between 12.30 and 1 am. The truck had a road sign attached to it.

Ali, the father of a nine-year-old boy, is believed to have died on impact. Fire officers who responded had to use the jaws of life to free him from the mangled wreck.

Newsday visited Ali's home on November 26.

Relatives said his death had left his family in shock and grief, as when he left around 7 pm on November 25 to go to Chaguanas, he hugged and kissed his mother Nerawatee Ali, his common-law-wife Usha Sankar and their son, telling them he would be back shortly.

With tears streaming down her face, his sister Christiana Ali said she was trying to come to terms with his final statement.

“You never think when you leave home you would not come back.”

Sankar, also unable to hold in her tears, said she had been with Ali for 24 years and they had one child. She said while couples had differences, in the past year, they had not argued.

“This last week was the best week we ever spent together. He kept kissing me and kissing me.
"With his promotion, he told me we would have no more money worries and he was making plans for a better life for us. He told me not to go (on vacation), but I did not know he was going.”

Ali's grieving mother said, “He was the apple of my eye.

"He has left a big hole in my heart. I don't know how I will survive.

"He was everything a mother could want,” she said of the third of her four children.

Her other son, Calvin, is also a prison officer.

Nerawatee said her grief was multiplied as her son was healthy, strong, a hard worker and still quite young.

She said his death could have been avoided if contractors had ensured there was proper lighting near the construction site.

“Workers there said the lighting was not good enough for anyone to see the truck which was parked on the side of the highway.

“It come like the truck was a blind corner. When he accelerate to go on the other side, he could not do anything else. He run under the truck. His whole car mash up. Only the trunk is intact.”

Christiana added, “The way the truck was parked, it was blocking the lane. There was a caution sign, but not at a far enough distance to alert drivers to slow down.

“Police said at that time of the night, between 12.30 am-1 am, they should have put the caution sign higher up the road for drivers to slow down.”

Prison Officers Association (POA) president Gerard Gordon said he too was in shock, as Ali was a good friend, a former station representative and served as general secretary of the association at one point.

“To lose a father, husband, son, brother, is not an easy thing, and if I and we in the service are feeling this way, I cannot even begin to understand how his family is feeling.”

Gordon said Ali was in the prison service for about 20 years and was a very conscientious, outspoken, fun-loving person who would be sorely missed.

“What is adding to our despair and hurt is that Mr Ali is one of 22 active officers who would have passed away this year (and) the third to have died in a vehicular road accident. Just yesterday (November 25) we lost another officer, Joseph Cipriani, who was on pre-retirement leave.”

Commenting on the circumstances of Ali's death, Gordon said he too understood the visibility was poor on that night.

“I was not there, but speaking to another officer, I understand some work was being done on the highway. I don't think the contractor and the individuals conducting the work on the highway are doing all that is possible to ensure the safety of drivers, especially operating at those hours. The lighting in question is extremely bad.

"I don't want to ascribe blame, but what I am saying is that we see it all the time when we are driving on the road: no proper demarcation, lighting, warning signs are weak.”

He urged drivers to be careful while using the road, especially at nights or early morning and when it is raining.

Ali's father Samsudeen Ali, a retired fire officer, said Muslims were usually buried on the day they died, but funeral arrangements had been made tentatively for November 27, once the autopsy was done and all clearance was given.

Gordon said usually an officer who met death in Ali's circumstances would get a military send-off.

He said there was a special unit tasked with that arrangement, but given the quick time in which the family wants burial, he is not certain the team would have enough time to mobilise.

Up until publication time, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan did not respond to queries about the poorly lit road that might have factored in Ali's death.

Freeport police is continuing investigations. An autopsy is scheduled for November 27.

This story was originally published with the title "Prison officer dies in Freeport accident" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

A prison officer died in an early-morning accident on the Solomon Hochoy Highway, Freeport, on November 26.

He has been identified as R Ali, with the rank of Prisoner Officer II.

Details are still sketchy, but preliminary reports indicate that Ali was driving his Mitsubishi Lancer when it crashed into a truck that was parked on the southbound lane of the highway, near T&TEC. The truck had a road sign attached to it.

Ali is believed to have died on impact. Fire officers who responded had to use the jaws of life to free Ali from the mangled wreck.

The story will be updated as information comes to hand.