Trinidad: Toddler crushed under wheel of car

Devika Dass with her mother Veera. Source: Facebook
Devika Dass with her mother Veera. Source: Facebook

(Trinidad Express) TWO year old Devika Dass did not even cry when the wheel of a car crushed her chest in the garage of her family’s home on Tuesday.

For two days doctors and nurses fought to keep her alive but on Thursday little Devika succumbed to her injuries at the Intensive Care Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital.

The tragic incident occurred in the garage of the home which the infant shared with her family at Seetahal Trace, Beaucarro Village, Carapichaima.

 
Police were told that on Tuesday around 1.25 p.m. was riding a bicycle in the garage where her father, Gayapersad Dass, an auto straightener, operates his business.

The child was behind a vehicle when one of the employees reversed it, pinning her under a rear wheel.

After the car was driven forward the child was unresponsive, police were told.

Her mother, Veera Davi Dass, performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on her.

The family took the infant to the Couva District Health Facility.

Little Devika was taken by ambulance for emergency treatment at SFGH and was under 24 hour-care at ICU.

She was resuscitated several times while at ICU, police said.

Investigating officers of the Freeport Police Station interviewed family members and took statements from them.

The Express visited the family’s home on Friday and spoke briefly with the grandmother, Deoragie Dass.

Pointing to the area where the tragedy occurred, Dass said that her grand-daughter was playing in the garage.

“One of the workers reversed a vehicle and she was behind on a bicycle. Another man who helps out in the garage saw the child underneath the car. He bawled out and told the worker to go forward because the child was under the wheel”, said Deoragie Dass.

“She did not cry or anything”, the grief-stricken grandmother said. “She did not make a sound”.

While speaking with Express, Deoragie Dass, took a phone call from the child’s mother, after which she ended the interview.

The Express was told that the child’s parents were at the San Fernando hospital where the autopsy was being done, but they did not wish to speak to media.

The child celebrated her second birthday on December 28.