“It’s very dangerous and it doesn’t matter who is at fault, the driver will always get charged so I just want to use this opportunity to warn all the drivers to be really careful”
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The bus was still moving after a passenger had paid his fare and had indicated to the driver that he wanted to get off.
That’s what the police’s preliminary investigation has found in the case of a man killed after he fell from a bus and ended up under it, two weeks ago.
The incident happened at Vaitele.
Acting Police Commissioner, Fauono Talalelei Tapu, told the Samoa Observer yesterday that the driver of the bus has been charged with negligent driving causing death.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday 5 August.
According to Fauono, both the bus driver and the deceased man were at fault.
“From the police reports I’ve received, the bus was still moving while the deceased was trying to get off.”
“According to the passengers, the deceased man had already given his bus fare to the driver and yet the bus was still moving.”
Fauono also used the incident to issue a warning to other bus drivers.
“My advice to all bus drivers is to make sure the bus has stopped completely before the passenger gets out.”
“It is the bus driver’s responsibility to tell the passenger to wait until the bus stops.”
Fauono said although there are cases where some passengers are at fault, at the end of the day, it is always the bus drivers that are charged.
“It’s very dangerous and it doesn’t matter who is at fault, the driver will always get charged so I just want to use this opportunity to warn all the drivers to be really careful.”
The incident in question at Vaitele-tai instantly killed Alofa Alofaifo.
Alofa’s mother, Iva Alofaifo, told the Samoa Observer they still couldn’t believe that her son has died.
“I miss him dearly,” she said. “I really wish I could have seen him one more time before this happened.”
Iva said her son was a “good boy.”
“He was a lovable boy, excellent listener and he was very respectful,” she said. “This is a very difficult time for our family.”
Alofa’s brother-in-law, Puletua Faimata said Alofa went to Apia to buy food for their Sunday to’ona’i when the incident happened.
“This has come as a complete shock to our family. Right now, I can say that he is the last person something like this could’ve happened to.”
“I still cannot believe that he is gone. Many people who knew him also cannot believe what has happened.”
Emelina Mapuao, who lives across from where the incident happened, said the death is a real tragedy. She said she knows Alofa and his mother very well.
“On Saturday at about six o’clock in the morning, I saw a bus parking for almost half an hour on the other side of the road with a number of people flocking to it.”
“I didn’t know that it was Alofa (they were looking at).”
Mrs. Mapuao said the Police visited their house that day.
“One of the policeman explained that the man hopped out of the bus while the bus was still moving. He slipped and fell to the ground and he ended up under the tyre of the bus.
“The Police officer also told us that the bus driver took his dead body to the hospital.”
Another eyewitness said the bus driver did not realised he had driven over someone.
Fauono said the driver brought the body of Alofa to the police station.
“Later, the bus driver and some of police officers took the man’s body to the Moto’otua hospital.”
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