While Fijians looked forward with great enthusiasm to heralding the New Year yesterday, a family in Navunisole village in Tailevu is currently mourning the tragic loss of their only son.
Kelemete Raivuni, 27, is the fourth victim of the fatal car accident that occurred at Matacula Village in Tailevu over the Christmas weekend.
Police confirmed that the victim was one of the three who was admitted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and died on December 30. He was the driver of one of the two vehicles involved in the accident.
Mr Raivuni’s grandmother Miliana Marama, 85, wailed at their Navunisole home when the Fiji Sun visited the family yesterday.
“Kele was the only child in the family. He was loved and was always pampered by everyone. We really miss him,” an emotional Ms Marama said.
“He wanted to come home during the night of the accident because it was already after 9pm, but he felt sorry for the family that wanted to be dropped off at Matacula Village that night and he went on to drop them even though it was nearing the curfew,” she said.
The late Kelemete Raivuni.
“That was Kele, one that cared and loved people. He would always go out of his way to provide for families and fellow villagers.”
“The other two fatalities who died at the scene – Lodoviko Degei and his father Elia Tinaviti – are also from this village and they will all be buried together on Saturday.
Yesterday, the national road death toll stood at 40 compared to 61 for the same period in 2019.
Police investigations continue.
Edited by Ranoba Baoa
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