A policeman walks past the standpipe which a van crashed into after hitting sisters Jenny and Mary McNish in Tableland yesterday. Inset: Mary, who died in the accident.

Photo: Sookdeo Baney

BY RADHICA SOOKRAJ

When a van slammed into her grandmother and great-aunt sending them up in the air yesterday, four-year-old Hope McNish ran into her mother’s arms shouting, “Mammy, Mammy, come see Grandma and Auntie flying.”

But by the time Hope’s mother Terriann rushed out, Mary McNish, 61, of Hindustan Road, New Grant, was dead. Mary was Teriann’s mother.

Mary McNish’s sister Jenny, 53, suffered multiple injuries and remains warded in critical condition at San Fernando General Hospital.

Police said the McNishes had been standing outside their home around 8.30 am when a white Mazda pick-up, driven by a 51-year-old man, turned a steep corner and slammed into them.

Police said the man, from Petite Cafe, was heading south along Hindustan Road, when he lost control of his van, which careened onto the eastern side of the road and struck the women.

It then swerved onto the right side of the road, crashed into a standpipe and ended up in a ditch.

Police said the two women flew up in the air and landed in the road after the collision.

Terriann said when her daughter realised her grandmother and great-aunt were hurt, she began to cry.

“I hope my daughter can forget what she saw because after that she couldn’t stop crying. I took her to stay at her grandmother’s side while I rushed to call the police,” Terriann said.

Ambulances took both women to the Princes Town hospital, where Mary died on arrival.

Her sister was transferred to San Fernando General Hospital, where she remains warded in serious condition.