作者： admin

After weeks of raging, uncontrolled bushfires that choked skies and disrupted travel across large swathes of Trinidad and Tobago, long-awaited rainfall arrived to dampen the blazes – but it brought a new, deadly hazard in its wake: slick, dangerous road conditions that have sparked a surge in collisions, including the fatal crash that claimed the life of 46-year-old Zeena Joseph of Couva.

The tragedy unfolded just after 2 p.m. Saturday along Rivulet Road, near the Camden traffic lights. Eyewitness accounts confirm Joseph, driving a westbound Nissan Primera, drifted into the opposite lane directly into the path of an eastbound white Toyota Hilux headed for the nearby highway. The force of the head-on collision left Joseph trapped; by the time first responders pulled her from the wreckage, she could not be saved and succumbed to her injuries on the roadside shoulder.

Noel Lutchman, the 56-year-old Hilux driver from Maraval, was rushed to San Fernando General Hospital for emergency care. His three passengers – Richard Lutchman, Andy Mitchell and Roger Gills – also sustained non-fatal injuries in the crash. They were first stabilized at the Couva District Health Facility before being transferred to the larger San Fernando hospital for ongoing treatment.

This fatal collision was far from an isolated incident. In the days before the rain, thick smoke from spreading bushfires had already caused multiple chain-reaction crashes on the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, where drivers reported near-zero visibility that left motorists unable to react to stopped traffic ahead. When the rain finally moved in to extinguish the blazes, it transformed road conditions overnight, leaving drivers unprepared for the new risks: greasy pavement, reduced visibility from ongoing precipitation, and unpredictable traction that makes sudden stops or evasive maneuvers far more dangerous.

Police Road Safety Officer Brent Batson told local outlet *Trinidad Express* in an interview Monday that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has recorded a clear uptick in road traffic accidents (RTAs) coinciding with the onset of April’s seasonal rains. Batson explained that even light rainfall creates uniquely dangerous conditions by lifting accumulated motor oil from asphalt, creating a slippery film that drastically reduces tire traction. The only effective countermeasures, he noted, are intentional driver behavior changes: reduced travel speeds, increased following distance between vehicles, and routine pre-trip safety checks.

Batson issued a series of clear safety recommendations for motorists navigating rainy conditions. He urged drivers to confirm their tires, brakes, and windscreen wipers are in full working order before heading out, and to exercise extra caution at intersections and on curved stretches of road. He added, “Drivers are reminded that it is crucial that they reduce vehicle speed when negotiating corners and approaching intersections, and if visibility is poor, turn on the vehicle headlights to ensure other road users are aware of your presence on the road. Please ensure seatbelts are worn by vehicle occupants and keep alert by staying off your phone when driving.”

The TTPS echoed this warning in a separate public advisory, reiterating calls for increased vigilance from all road users amid the shift in weather. The recent string of traffic fatalities dates back to the previous Sunday, when two men lost their lives in separate crashes along the Uriah Butler Highway. First, Lopinot resident Michael King died when an out-of-control vehicle crossed the median and collided head-on with the car he was sharing with his wife, Severina Francois, who survived. Just hours later, Randy Siew, a librarian at the University of the West Indies, was also killed in a separate collision on the same corridor.

In the week between that double fatality and Joseph’s death, at least eight additional crashes have been recorded across the country: Saturday’s fatal incident, two separate collisions involving police service vehicles, and five more crashes over the holiday long weekend. Between Saturday morning and Sunday midday, crash reports were filed across high-traffic corridors spanning the nation, including the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, Uriah Butler Highway, Tasker Road in Princes Town, multiple stretches of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway near Gasparillo and El Dorado, Chaguaramas, and the route near Queen’s Park Savannah. By Monday afternoon, local media received reports of a second crash along the same Rivulet Road where Joseph was killed, where a vehicle veered off the pavement into nearby vegetation. As of press time, full details on injuries and outcomes for that latest crash have not yet been confirmed.

Trinidad and Tobago’s ongoing state of emergency (SoE) to curb violent gang crime is facing growing backlash after more than 30 homicides were recorded across the country since the measure took effect last month, with a former top security official demanding the administration completely rewrite its approach to public safety.

As of the most recent count, the national 2026 murder toll has reached 94. The latest fatality was identified as 38-year-old Ryan Morris, who was fatally stabbed in a public confrontation outside a Barataria bar on Saturday morning. While this year’s toll remains slightly lower than the 99 recorded by this point in 2025 and far below the 143 recorded in the same period of 2024, the sharp uptick in killings since the SoE was implemented has undermined the government’s justification for the extraordinary measure.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar first announced the new SoE on March 2, 2026, with the measure entering into force the following day. At the time of its declaration, she argued the step was necessary in response to a documented surge in gang-related violence and credible intelligence confirming planned attacks against law enforcement and security personnel. Following the expiration of the previous SoE on January 31, Persad-Bissessar noted violent criminal activity had spread across the nation, with most incidents linked to organized criminal networks. She added that recent attacks included multiple mass shooting events with multiple fatalities, warning that unregulated retaliatory gang killings would spiral into widespread chaos if no action was taken.

framing the SoE as a natural extension of her administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy on violent crime, the Prime Minister pointed to 10 months of successful joint operations conducted by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and the national armed forces, alongside new legislative measures and ongoing reforms to the criminal justice system. She emphasized that the core goal of reimposing the state of emergency was to protect hard-won progress in reducing murder rates and violent offenses, and to shield law-abiding residents from escalating gang violence.

When the SoE took effect, the national murder tally stood at 63. In the month following its implementation, however, at least 31 additional people have been killed, a figure confirmed by Deputy Police Commissioner Suzette Martin late last week. Martin told reporters the current average rate of homicide is at least one killing per day.

The victims of these post-SoE killings include people from all walks of life: prominent local businessman Danny Guerra, a teenage boy, two young men killed in a mass shooting at a family apartment, a female professional cricketer, and an 11-month-old infant who was shot and killed while sleeping next to his father. Joseph Sutton, shot in mid-March, ultimately died alongside his son Jayden Sutton in a March 31 incident that shocked the nation.

Marvin Gonzales, who previously served as the country’s Minister of National Security, has emerged as a leading critic of the government’s handling of the crisis and its public justification for the SoE. Gonzales argues that administration officials have deliberately misrepresented the stated purpose of the measure to the public.

“Our core concern is that the Prime Minister and the Attorney General keep lying to the Trinidad and Tobago people,” Gonzales said. “The presidential statement submitted to Parliament, which drew directly on intelligence from the National Security Council, stated the SoE was called to address specific, concrete gang threats. It was never framed as a measure to control the overall murder rate. But government spokespeople keep talking about the murder toll instead of the specific threats they claimed justified extraordinary measures.”

Gonzales pointed to the killing of the 11-month-old infant as a stark illustration of how deeply violent crime has penetrated the country. “The murder of an 11-month-old child is a deeply disturbing development that shows how severe and entrenched violent crime and murder have become in Trinidad and Tobago. Criminals are not deterred by a perpetual state of emergency, and it is long past time for this government to do the hard work required to address crime at all levels – including its root causes, investment in social programs, education reform, overhauls to the judicial and prison systems, and rooting out corruption within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.”

The former security minister added that the continuation of rampant homicide during the SoE raises serious questions both about the effectiveness of the measure and the government’s overall preparedness to tackle the national crime crisis.

“Let us not fool ourselves: this government is completely out of its depth. This is an abysmal failure, and the government must return to the drawing board to develop a real strategy,” Gonzales said. “The Prime Minister must release the full details of the crime plan she campaigned on during the 2025 general election. If she cannot do that, she must admit she lied to the public, and that the United National Congress never had a serious plan to fight crime at all. More than 30 murders committed while a state of emergency is in effect is astonishing. This measure must be discontinued immediately.”

A bold act of self-defense has left a would-be robber injured and on the run, after a 57-year-old woman from Chaguanas fought back against a street attack in El Socorro this past Saturday.

The confrontation unfolded at approximately 3:41 p.m., as the victim was walking northbound on El Socorro Road, just steps from the intersection of Bissessar Street. According to official police accounts, an unidentified man suddenly approached the woman from an unknown direction and made a grab for the gold-toned chain around her neck, aiming to steal the piece of jewelry.

Instead of freezing or surrendering to the attack, the local resident refused to give up her property without a fight. In a quick, instinctive move to stop the robbery, she grabbed hold of one of the suspect’s fingers and bit down hard enough to tear off a section of his fingernail and surrounding skin. Even in the chaos of the struggle, the victim was not able to confirm exactly which of the attacker’s fingers suffered the injury.

Following the unexpected counterattack, the injured suspect fled the scene immediately. Witness descriptions shared by police paint a clear picture of the perpetrator: he is described as a man of African descent, standing roughly 5 feet 10 inches tall with a slim frame. At the time of the attempted robbery, he was wearing a plain purple short-sleeved T-shirt and dark three-quarter length pants. He ran west along Bissessar Street to make his escape.

After the suspect fled, the woman contacted local police to file an official report of the incident. Responding officers traveled promptly to the attack site to conduct on-scene investigations and interview the victim about what had transpired. As part of their ongoing probe, investigators have begun canvassing nearby businesses and residential properties to collect any available closed-circuit television footage that might capture the suspect’s face, escape route, or pre-attack movements. They have also reached out to the North Eastern Division Operations Centre to coordinate access to any public or traffic surveillance recordings from the area.

Investigators have also followed up on another key lead: checking every nearby health clinic and hospital in the region for any patient who came in seeking treatment for a finger injury matching the description from the attack. As of the latest updates, those checks have not turned up any persons of interest matching the profile. To ensure no potential lead is missed, police have notified the department’s central Command Centre to put all frontline officers on alert. If any individual matching the suspect’s description seeks medical care for the specific injury, patrol officers will be notified immediately to respond.

At present, the investigation remains open and active, with Police Constable Ball leading ongoing enquiries into the attempted robbery.

On a routine Saturday journey from Kingston, Jamaica to New York City, a Caribbean Airlines flight delivered far more than just travelers to its destination: a healthy newborn baby, born unexpectedly mid-flight before the plane touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The surprise delivery unfolded on flight BW005, which departed Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport at approximately 7:12 a.m. local time. As the jet began its approach to JFK, the crew noticed a pregnant passenger had gone into active labor, prompting the pilot to alert air traffic control to the unplanned medical event. In transcribed radio communications released from the exchange, the pilot requested a priority direct routing to the airport to speed arrival, and confirmed that on-ground medical staff would be needed upon landing. Air traffic controllers quickly adjusted the flight’s approach path, cleared it for an expedited landing on runway 04R, and coordinated with airport authorities to have emergency medics standing by at the gate.

By the time the plane landed at JFK’s Terminal 4 at 11:55 a.m. ET, the baby had already been safely delivered. In a lighthearted exchange after landing, a JFK ground controller joked with the flight crew that the new baby should be named “Kennedy” after the airport, a suggestion the pilot promised to pass along to the new mother.

Caribbean Airlines confirmed the unplanned “medical event” in an official statement released the following day, noting that both the mother and newborn were immediately evaluated by on-ground medical personnel after arrival and are currently receiving appropriate care. The airline emphasized that its crew followed all established emergency protocols to manage the situation, and commended the team for their calm, professional response that kept all passengers on board safe and comfortable throughout the incident. Notably, no general emergency declaration was needed during the flight, despite the unexpected delivery.

Out of respect for the family, the airline has requested that the public honor their privacy, and no identifying details about the mother or child have been released to the media.

This unexpected mid-flight birth is not the first time a baby has been born on a service heading to JFK. In 2005, a passenger named Candy Midtlyng delivered a healthy baby just 10 minutes before landing at the New York airport on a BWIA West Indies Airways flight, a predecessor carrier to Caribbean Airlines. That child was nicknamed “Baby Bwee” by immigration officials after the incident.

Caribbean Airlines maintains clear, standardized policies for pregnant travelers, which align with guidance from most global commercial carriers. According to the airline’s official website, expectant mothers are permitted to fly without mandatory medical clearance through the end of their 32nd week of pregnancy. However, the airline still recommends that all pregnant travelers carry a doctor’s note confirming their expected due date to avoid boarding issues or entry problems at their destination. Between the 32nd and 35th week of pregnancy, a formal medical clearance certificate confirming a low-risk, healthy pregnancy and estimated delivery date is required to board. After the 35th week of pregnancy, the airline does not permit expectant mothers to travel, out of an abundance of caution for both maternal and fetal health. In all cases, the airline encourages pregnant passengers to consult with their obstetrician before booking air travel.