(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – Residents in Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, gathered at the scene of a tragic accident at the crossroad in the center of the settlement that occurred shortly after 6:30pm on Friday, April 19th, 2013. It was a two vehicle accident with a single male driver in each.
A white GMC Sierra truck traveling north along Queens Highway and driven by Mr. Laveldo Fernander (31) of Governor’s Harbour collided with a blue Chevy Lumina driven by Mr. Laveaux Bonami (48) of Haitian origin and resident in Eleuthera for 27 years. He was married and had two children with his wife, who described him as a “good husband”. He also had one child overseas.
Mr. Bonami succumbed to his injuries at the scene and was pronounced dead by the resident doctor in the district before his body was extracted from his badly damaged vehicle.
The visitor to Eleuthera (far left) was identified by a man in her traveling party, as a nurse. They had been standing across the street when the accident occurred and she was seen along with bystanders assisting the injured man out of his vehicle and helping to decrease his bleeding from wounds on his face.
Mr. Fernander suffered visible lacerations on the face. He was initially assisted by a visitor to the island, who happened to be a nurse immediately after the accident along with several local bystanders before other local health and police officials arrived. He was conscious when he was taken to the clinic in Governor’s Harbour by the volunteer HACE ambulance service, where he was stabilised before being airlifted to the capital.
Both vehicles were very badly damaged in the accident. The body of the deceased was tossed to the passenger side of his vehicle.
The car was badly crushed in the accident. The driver was attempting to cross the intersection when he was hit by the GMC Sierra truck.
Scene at the airport as Mr. Fernander was being transported on to the plane waiting to fly him to New Providence.
A local nurse and HACE volunteer attended to the deceased, with shocked onlookers closeby, before the scene was cordoned off by police.
