Police charge driver in crash that killed eight

THE driver of a five-door Land Cruiser involved in an accident with a PMV bus at Nasuapum outside Lae causing eight deaths last month appeared in the Lae District Court last Friday.
He was charged with dangerous driving causing death.
Luke Paka, 29, from Sika village in the Komba LLG area of Kabwum district in Morobe, appeared before magistrate Pius Tapil.
According to police a report presented in court, Paka, on Jan 18 was driving at high speed and collided with a 15- seater PMV bus causing eight deaths.
A couple, both teachers at a primary school in Komba LLG, their four-year-old son, a-year-old daughter and their baby sitter died in the accident.
From an earlier interview with Morobe police commander Chief Supt Augustine Wampe, Peka was heavily drunk and had no rest prior to the accident.
Tapil, after accessing the police report, told Paka that since the matter was serious and had involved several deaths, there was no possibility of bail.
He told Paka that in the meantime for his safety, he had to be remanded at Buimo jail.