The parents of a baby and two grandparents who lost their lives in a wrong-way accident on Highway 401 in Whitby, Ont., last week say they are struggling to cope with their grief.
“Our family is reeling from a devastating tragedy following a wrong-way crash involving a police chase,” said the father, Gokulnath Manivannan, in a statement released Sunday by the Special Investigations Unit.
Manivannan shared that he and his wife Ashwitha Jawahar are “mourning the loss of three of the most precious people in our lives.”
“Our 3-month-old bundle of joy Aditya Vivaan, our respected father Mr. Manivannan Srinivasapillai and our most god-fearing mother Mrs. Mahalakshmi Ananthakrishnan,” read the statement.
“We are at a complete loss of words to describe the agony and vacuum in our hearts knowing we can never hold our child Aditya Vivaan, who gave us so many precious memories in such a short time, in our hands again,” it continued.
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On the night of April 29, Durham Regional Police were alerted by an off-duty officer about a robbery at an LCBO near Green Road and Highway 2 in Clarington, Ont., according to the SIU.
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Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories. SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon mentioned that officers located a U-Haul cargo van linked to the incident and pursued it through several streets in Durham Region as it drove recklessly. Hudon stated that the vehicle entered Highway 401 at Stevenson Road in Oshawa going the wrong way, traveling westbound in eastbound lanes. A short while later, there was a multi-vehicle crash involving at least six vehicles on Highway 401, just east of Highway 412, resulting in the deaths of the three-month-old child, along with his grandmother aged 55 and grandfather aged 60. Both Manivannan (33) and Jawahar (27), residents of Ajax, were also involved and sustained injuries during the collision. In their family statement released Sunday, Manivannan noted that his parents had traveled from Chennai, India specifically to spend time with their grandson. More on Canada More videos The couple had only been in Canada for two days before this tragic accident occurred, according to Manivannan’s account. “My father, who had recently retired at age 60, was thrilled about spending time with his grandson,” he wrote. “He affectionately referred to this time as the ‘year of grandparents fun.’” Story continues below Manivannan also mentioned that his mother was eagerly looking forward to every moment she could share with her son and grandson. She planned for their visit to revolve around her grandchild’s enjoyment. The SIU reported that a 21-year-old man driving the U-Haul died at the scene while another passenger aged 38 was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The SIU investigates how officers act during serious incidents like this one that lead to fatalities or injury; they are currently looking into what happened here. “The pain of my own injuries pales as I grapple with shock and loss over my parents and my only son all on one night while my wife continues suffering from surgeries along with repeated flashbacks of trauma,” Manivannan expressed emotionally through his statement. © 2024 , a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.Source link
