A devastating early-morning road accident on Tobago’s Claude Noel Highway has claimed the lives of two local construction workers, leaving their tight-knit community in mourning and prompting renewed calls for cautious driving across the island.
The fatal incident unfolded just after 10 a.m. on Thursday, when the vehicle carrying the two men—identified as Shakka Rivers and Keyon “Sprang” Nimblett, both lifelong residents of Signal Hill, Tobago—careened out of control. According to Corporal Carva Vincent, public information officer for the Tobago Traffic Branch, Nimblett was behind the wheel traveling east when he attempted to swerve to avoid an oncoming approaching vehicle. The evasive maneuver sent the car spinning off the roadway, where it first struck a road traffic sign before colliding with a large tree along the highway’s southern shoulder. Witnesses and first responders reported the vehicle went fully airborne after losing control, and both men were pronounced dead at the crash site.
By the time recovery teams arrived to extract the victims’ bodies, grieving family members had already reached the scene. The two workers were close friends outside of their jobs, and their loved ones were inconsolable, with loud screams of grief echoing across the crash site as the bodies were removed.
For Rivers’ family, the accident comes on the heels of an already devastating period. Kyria Caton, Rivers’ brother, told local reporters he was at home when he received the urgent phone call about the crash. “To be honest, I start to cry and ask God how much more because just November we buried (our mother) and now my brother. It is overwhelming,” Caton said.
Nigel Taitt, the local area representative for Signal Hill Patience Hill and a close cousin of Rivers, was visibly shaken when he arrived at the scene. “Shakka is my cousin, my very close cousin and Sprang my very close friend so right now I am emotional and hurt because I was not expecting this news,” Taitt told reporters. “I must say condolences to the rest of the family, friends of the men but I am emotional and shaken up.”
In the wake of the crash, Corporal Vincent issued an urgent appeal to motorists across Tobago, emphasizing that excessive speed was a primary contributing factor in the double fatality. “There is no need for speed, speed is of paramount in most of these road traffic accidents which resulted in two persons dying because of speed. Take your time, you will reach where you have to go. If you have to reach a destination a certain time leave way before and take your time. Look we have persons now, families are mourning now for the death of these two individuals,” he said.
This latest crash brings Tobago’s total road fatalities for the current calendar year to four, underscoring ongoing concerns about road safety across the Trinidad and Tobago islands.