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‘Speed seen as a factor in Govendo crash’
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Posted on Oct 03 2005
Police said yesterday that the vehicle driven by a son of Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo was speeding northbound on Chalan Pale Arnold highway in Sadog Tasi when it crossed the southbound lane and went airborne, slamming into a deep ravine by the roadside.
Citing results of an investigation, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Catherine Sheu said the Nissan Pathfinder of 32-year-old Benjamin Brice Govendo was also involved in a vehicular collision on the Navy Hill intersection just before the fatal crash in Sadog Tasi before dawn Saturday.
Sheu said the young Govendo was possibly intoxicated when his vehicle hit another vehicle and left the scene. No one was injured in that accident, the police spokesperson said.
“Initial investigation conducted by officers assigned to the traffic section reveals that the vehicle was heading north on Chalan Pale Arnold Sadog Tasi, crossed onto the opposite side and went airborne to its final resting place at the bottom of the southbound shoulder embankment,” Sheu said in a media release.
“Further investigation into the crash indicates that speed has been determined as a factor to this crash. Preliminary officer detected a strong odor of alcohol from within the vehicle. Although alcohol has not been determined as one of the factors, it has not also been ruled out,” she added.
Sheu said the department’s central office received a report about the fatal accident at about 3:24am. A police officer reported that the vehicle’s operator, Govendo, had no pulse and was not breathing, she said.
Police then dispatched emergency medical technicians and traffic investigators to the scene. Responders brought Govendo to the Commonwealth Health Center, where he was declared dead at about 4:44am.
According to some police officers, the site of the accident, which is known as Thousand Curve or Fatality Curve, has been called as such due to the high number of fatalities from vehicular mishaps that had occurred in the area.
The curve requires motorists to make a sharp turn, and the roadside has no fence separating it from the several-feet-deep ravine.
