Car hits, kills man in Pom

By JUNIOR UKAHA
A MAN from Eastern Highlands died after he was run over by a vehicle along Waigani Drive in Port Moresby yesterday.
Onapimo Issac, in his late 40s, from Kisovero village, was knocked down by the vehicle and dragged for about 15 metres before being crushed against concrete flower beds on the curb.
Eyewitnesses said the deceased, his wife and daughter were trying to cross the road from Stop N Shop Central Waigani when he was hit.
Reserve Sgt George Waingut of 4-Mile Traffic, who was one of the first people on the scene, said the driver of the vehicle was a mixed-race female. She was apparently drunk.
She was believed to have been taken to the Boroko police station and detained pending investigation.
However, NCD traffic director Insp Gideon Ikumu said when they cross-checked at the police station the woman could not be found.
“We cannot locate the driver. She may have slipped away at the scene of the accident,” he said.
He assured the relatives of the dead man that the driver will be tracked down and arrested.
Her vehicle – a Honda CRV registration BDK 468 – was set on fire by angry bystanders after police had left the scene of the accident.
Police forensic officers on the ground said the deceased suffered a fractured skull.
Ikumu said in the first two months of this year, over 500 vehicle accidents had been reported.
He said that included minor, serious and fatal accidents.
“Most of these accidents occur due to negligence and lack of observation of traffic rules,” he said.