A HIGH-speed police chase on the Kings Rd near Nausori on the night of November 5, 1985, ended in the death of two men when the truck they fled in slid off the road and crashed.

The mangled vehicle was pictured on the front page of The Fiji Times the very next day.

According to the article, a third man in the seven-tonne truck was critically injured and fighting for his life at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva shortly after being transported from the accident scene that night.

The driver of the green Toyota truck, registration number AE237, was identified only as Tulsi.

He died instantly along with an unidentified passenger sitting next to the door.

The third passenger, Vishwa Nadan, 29, was rescued by bystanders who cut through the mangled wreck of the cab with axes and knives to reach him. He was then rushed to the Nausori Health Centre and then to the CWM Hospital in a private car.

That night the Nausori and Suva fire brigades rushed to the scene to cut open the truck’s cab to remove the bodies of the driver and the passenger man in his mid-30s.

The accident happened about 6pm on the Koronivia flats, known as the “death stretch” because of the number of accidents in that area.

During rush-hour traffic at Kinoya, the truck reportedly owned by Sai Transport, narrowly missed a taxi while travelling towards Nausori from Suva.

The taxi driver stopped at the nearest telephone and rang the Police Mobile Force based at Nasinu Eight Miles. He said the lorry was speeding in an erratic manner.

A police patrol car lay in wait at Eight Miles, while the taxi followed the truck. As the truck passed it, the police car swung behind with its siren screaming and lights flashing.

The truck increased its speed.

The chase ended at the beginning of the “death stretch just past the entrance to the Koronivia Research Station.

According to the article, witnesses stated that the truck flew off the road.

It was drizzling at the time and made the road surface slippery, causing the truck to smash through a barbed wire fence, catapulting the vehicle of about 20 metres over a gully and into the stump of a breadfruit tree.

The impact of the crash resulted in the cutting of electricity cables causing a power outage in the Nausori area.

The cab of the lorry crumpled, with its nose partly embedded in the embankment of a ditch.

Eyewitness Apisalome Caviyawa’s house was located a few metres from where the truck landed.

He told The Fiji Times he was shocked when he witnessed the truck flying overhead through the air.

Neighbours also rushed to the vehicle and heard the engine still running and black smoke spewing out.

Mr Nadan’s faint cry for help could be heard .

Fearing there would be an explosion and a fire , those at the scene tried to switch off the engine but could not find the key and they had to hack at the exposed wires in the engine for several minutes before it stopped

Another witness, Abdul Muktar Khan, 27, said he also heard Nadan crying for help.

Mr Caviyawa, Mr Khan and others including the police officers from the patrol car that was chasing the truck ,used axes, knives and iron bars to free Nadan who was conscious but covered in blood

The two who died at the scene were removed later by fire officers.