THE man involved in a road accident at Paipai, Lautoka on Saturday had died while delivering food rations to less fortunate families, said Paipai resident Mohammed Tamiq Khan.

Mr Khan said the vehicle veered off the road and plunged into the creek at Paipai bridge.

“They were driving a rental, and it had already veered off the road before reaching the bridge,” he said.

Mr Khan said there was a passenger in the vehicle, who survived the crash, however, the driver passed away.

“When we took him to the hospital it was too late.

“Some of the neighbours rushed and tried to pull them out, all their luggage and groceries were still inside.”

Mr Khan said the accident occurred at about 8pm and a taxi transported the victim to the Aspen Medical managed Lautoka Hospital.

“They are both from New Zealand, but they were Indo-Fijian and previously stayed in Lautoka. The man who passed away had a garage in New Zealand, he was in his 60s and the other was in his 70s.”

Police confirmed the report in a statement.

“The victim was driving along Paipai Rd when it is alleged, he lost control of his vehicle, causing it to veer off the road and land in a creek,” police confirmed.

“The victim and a passenger, a man in his 70s, was rushed to the Lautoka Hospital where he was unfortunately pronounced dead. A postmortem will be conducted to ascertain the cause of death as investigations continue.”

The national road death toll currently stands at nine compared with 17 for the same period last year.