Man dies in collision

Listen to this article:

Jone Nabaro (middle) with his wife Litiana Nabaro (left) daughter Alisimere Rubo (right) and grandchildren Sereana Bolenaivalu and Tevita Ravuravu with a picture of his son Mikaeli Vauvau Nabaro at Yasiyasi in Tavua yesterday. Picture: BALJEET SINGH

LITIANA Nabaro can still remember telling her 21-year-old son to drive slowly as he departed their home in Yasiyasi, Tavua, yesterday morning. That was the last time she spoke to Mikaeli Vauvau Nabaro, the youngest of her three children.

The aspiring policeman died about an hour later when the car he was driving collided with an oncoming truck along the Yaqara flats in Ra. “After 3am, I was still awake with him and he had asked to use the car,” the 53-year-old said.

“My husband was asleep. He asked me to go with him, but I said no. When he got into the car, I told him ‘Mika, go slowly’. I stood outside and watched him go. I saw him drive slowly.

“Around 8am, he was still not home. When he took too long, we called his phone but it was diverted. That’s when we knew that something had happened.

“We called around to the police stations and they were not telling us about what happened. We knew that it was him when his uncle who was at the scene called. He had a blue vest on and black tracksuit pants. That confirmed it for us.”

His father Jone Nabaro said the last time he had spoken to his son was yesterday morning after he asked to use the car to drop his girlfriend off at Golden Point Resort, where she worked.

According to Mr Nabaro, his son had a licence and he was not drunk. He maintained his youngest child was an experienced driver who drove to Suva often.

“When he left home, he was sober,” the 54-year-old said.

“He is gone now. We can’t really control what God has planned for us. He was someone who I could count on, someone who was always there when I called him. He was a good boy.”

Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro said two people were also taken to the Tavua Hospital after the accident.

“The victim was driving a rental car which was heading towards Rakiraki with two others when it allegedly collided with a truck travelling in the opposite direction,” she said.

“The driver of the rental car was trapped inside the vehicle and died at the scene of the accident.”

A post-mortem examination will be conducted to ascertain the cause of death.

The present road death toll is 28 compared with 30 for the same period last year.

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 19
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)