A high-speed police pursuit on Kings Road near Nausori on the evening of November 5, 1985, resulted in the deaths of two men after the truck they were in veered off the road and crashed. The severely damaged vehicle was featured on the front page of The Fiji Times the following day.
As reported, a third occupant of the seven-tonne truck sustained critical injuries and was fighting for his life at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva shortly after the accident. The driver of the green Toyota truck, identified only as Tulsi, died instantly, along with an unidentified passenger seated next to him.
The third passenger, 29-year-old Vishwa Nadan, was rescued by bystanders who used axes and knives to cut through the wreckage to free him. He was then urgently transported to the Nausori Health Centre before being taken to CWM Hospital in a private vehicle.
Responding to the accident, the Nausori and Suva fire departments arrived to extricate the bodies of the driver and the passenger, who was in his mid-30s. The crash occurred around 6 PM on the Koronivia flats, an area notoriously known for accidents, often referred to as the “death stretch.”
During the busy rush-hour traffic at Kinoya, the truck, reportedly owned by Sai Transport, narrowly avoided colliding with a taxi while traveling towards Nausori from Suva. The taxi driver called the Police Mobile Force at Nasinu Eight Miles to report the reckless driving of the truck.
A police patrol car was stationed at Eight Miles as the taxi followed the speeding truck. As the truck passed, police activated their sirens and lights, prompting the truck to accelerate further. The pursuit concluded at the beginning of the “death stretch,” just past the entrance to the Koronivia Research Station.
Witnesses recounted how the truck flew off the road amidst drizzle that made the surface slippery. The vehicle broke through a barbed wire fence and catapulted approximately 20 meters over a gully before crashing into the stump of a breadfruit tree. The violent impact severed electricity cables, resulting in a power outage in the Nausori area.
The truck’s cab was crumpled, its nose partially lodged in the embankment of a ditch. Eyewitness Apisalome Caviyawa, whose house was close to the crash site, described his shock as he watched the truck fly overhead. Neighbors quickly approached the wreck and noticed the engine still running, belching black smoke.
They heard Mr. Nadan’s faint cries for help amid fears of a potential explosion. Unable to locate the ignition key, those present resorted to severing the exposed wires to stop the engine. Another witness, Abdul Muktar Khan, also acknowledged hearing Nadan’s calls.
Caviyawa, Khan, and others, including police officers from the pursuing patrol, used axes, knives, and iron bars to rescue Nadan, who was conscious but bloodied. The two deceased individuals were subsequently removed by fire officers.