Student dies in accident

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday October 16th, 2013

 By ADAM MERA

A GRADE 12 student has died in a road accident one day before the start of the national examinations.

Jude Tusa, a 21-year-old student at the Manggai Agro Secondary School in Kavieng, was returning to school after a bath in a nearby river.

Police have arrested the driver. He was driving a vehicle belonging to the company he worked for.

Kavieng police station commander Insp Gabriel Ndrihin said Tusa and his schoolmates were walking along the side of the Bulumunski Highway leading to the school when he was hit by the vehicle.

“The driver of the vehicle, a maroon open-back Land Cruiser, was travelling at about 120km per hour and heading to Kavieng,” he said.

He said Tusa’s body was thrown into the air on impact and landed about 14m away.

Ndrihin said Tusa was taken to Lamiekot Health Centre for medical attention but died on arrival.

Tusa was from Kone village in Taskul, New Ireland.

“Police have halted investigations as we are waiting for the examinations to be completed before proceeding,” he said.

“We are doing this as per the request of the parents and relatives of Tusa.”

Ndrihin has spoken to the school management to carefully monitor the movement of students as it was not the first time a person had been hit by vehicle at that particular spot.

He is appealing to motorists travelling along the Bulumunski Highway to take extra care because there are villages, schools and towns along the highway.