Girl, 10, dies in crash as family travels to vote

By DOROTHY MARK
A 10-year-old girl accompanying her parents who left Karkar Island last week to vote in their home village outside Madang town died in a PMV accident.
The victim was the daughter of the director for nursing services at Gaubin Health Centre on Karkar Island, Fida Galun.
Gaubin Health Centre chairman Baka Kapei said that Galun and his family had left Karkar last week and travelled to cast their votes at their home at a village near Yagaum Health Centre in Ambenob LLG outside Madang town.
He said the PMV travelling from town to their village experienced a break failure and rolled down a steep slope and crashed, killing the girl.
“All PMVs and vehicles should be in good condition at this busy election period to avoid such accidents. An innocent life was taken away,” Kapei said.
A police source said the traffic department was aware of the incident.
Meanwhile, Kapei said the Gaubin community was in full swing to raise funds for the extension of the obstetrics ward and operating theatre when the
news of the accident reached them.
He said the health centre’s big corporate dinner was scheduled for July 29 to help raise funds to maintain the aging
infrastructures and do extensions.
Gaubin Health Centre serves over 50,000 people of Karkar Island.