Traffic victim's family sue drivers for damages

Two police constables were patrolling the Rabat area when they saw a crashed car in the middle of the road and a hand stretch out in an attempt to get out.

PC Luke Stivala and PC Felix Sammut intervened and helped Antoine Vella out of the left rear window of the Alfa 155 but did not manage to pull out his brother Herbert and cousin Patrick Cauchi who were trapped in the front seats of the car - which caught fire soon after.

The accident took place on Valletta Road, in Rabat, when the red Alfa, driven by Herbert Vella, collided with a minibus driven by Carmelo Cilia on June 18, 2002.

Herbert Vella, 22, and Cauchi, 20, died when the Alfa caught fire while Antoine Vella and Cilia survived the collision.

PC Stivala and PC Sammut yesterday testified in the case filed by Cauchi's parents John and Maryanne and his sister Helga against Richard Sladden and Mario Mifsud Bonnici as the legal representatives of Herbert Vella and against Cilia.

The Cauchis are claiming that the two drivers were responsible for the accident and are holding them liable in damages.

Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia, presiding over the case, heard PS Mario Fenech explain that when he arrived on the scene of the accident he was told that the driver of the minibus and a passenger of the Alfa had been taken to hospital and that another two men were trapped in the Alfa.

PS Fenech spoke to eyewitnesses Carl Palmier and Richard Cassar who were in the area when the accident took place.

Palmier told the sergeant he was driving, with Cassar as his passenger, when the Alfa overtook him, crossed the double lines and crashed into the minibus when it got to a bend.

Cassar said he had intervened to assist a man as he was a member of the Red Cross. He said he saw smoke come out of the car which then caught fire all of a sudden. The windows burst with the intense heat.

The sergeant also spoke to Antoine Vella who told him that none of them was under the influence of alcohol. He said that as far as he recalled he was sitting in the front passenger seat and remembered switching on the radio.

Antoine Vella remembered arriving near Wied Incita but did not remember anything else after that.

PS Fenech also explained that when he arrived on the scene the Alfa was in the middle of the road in a way that indicated it had been heading towards Rabat. The minibus was heading in the opposite direction.

The case continues.

Dr Michael Zammit Maempel is counsel to the Cauchis while Dr Richard Sladden and Dr Mario Mifsud Bonnici are representing the late Herbert Vella and Dr Joe Zammit MacKeon and Dr Chris Cilia are counsel to Carmelo Cilia.