Panaji: A senior citizen couple travelling to the Goa Medical College (GMC) for a doctor’s appointment died in a road accident at Bambolim on Monday after they took the highway instead of the service road, which was blocked due to a tree fall. The incident took place at 4 am on Monday.
The couple, who were on a two-wheeler, lost their lives after they had a head-on collision with an oncoming four-wheeler as their two-wheeler was on the wrong side of the highway.
Agasaim Police Inspector Anant Gaonkar said that the senior citizens were on their way to GMC. When they reached near the junction to leave the national highway and take the service road, they found the service road blocked due to a tree fall. Consequently, they continued to ride their two-wheeler on the national highway proceeding towards Margao.
Gaonkar explained that when the rider realised he had crossed the GMC, he took a turn on the national highway and proceeded towards the Panaji side, which was a one-way lane.
The Agasaim PI said that a phone call was received from an unidentified person informing that an accident had occurred near Atal Stadium, Bambolim, on NH-66 road. Accordingly, the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) registered a motor vehicle accident and proceeded to the spot.
Upon reaching the spot, the ASI found that the accident involved a four-wheeler and a scooter. The injured rider and pillion rider were shifted to GMC for treatment.
The PI said that during inquiry, it was revealed that the scooter rider was proceeding in the wrong direction, that is, in the lane meant for traffic moving from Panaji towards Agasaim side, and dashed against an oncoming four-wheeler driven by 23-year-old Karnataka native Jagdish Rathod.
“Due to the accident, the rider, namely 80-year-old Remigio Fernandes, and pillion rider 65-year-old Paulina Fernandes, wife of Remigio, residents of Salvador Do Mundo, sustained grievous injuries,” Gaonkar said.
Gaonkar said the police station received a wireless message from GMC informing that Paulina and Remigio were declared dead in the GMC casualty. The PI said that postmortem was conducted on the bodies of the deceased.
The tragic incident highlights the dangers of wrong-side driving on highways. The police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.
