SOCCER officials and fans gave former Fiji captain Josaia Tubuna a national hero’s funeral in Ba.
Pictured on the front page of The Fiji Times August 6, 1984, edition that day was Tubuna’s wife, Rebeka, and his son, Manasa, who was five years old at the time.
Tubuna died in a road accident near Ba two days prior when the light goods vehicle he was travelling in ran into a fully loaded, parked cane lorry.
Teammates and former national reps, Inia Bola and Semi Tabaiwalu, were seriously injured in the accident and were in satisfactory condition in Lautoka Hospital.
Bola, who had been unconscious since the accident, regained consciousness on August 5.
According to the article, Dr Michael Oldmeadow, a consultant physician at the hospital, said both Bola and Tabaiwalu were off the critical list but were likely to stay in the hospital for some time.
He did not disclose the nature of their injuries until their families had been notified.
The driver of the van in which Tubuna died said he did not see the cane truck until it was too late.
Solomone Ukitu, 23, of Tavua, said Tubuna, Tabaiwalu, Bola and Kaminieli Tora hired the van to take them to Ba from Tavua about midnight. Tubuna sat on the window side while Bola sat in the middle. Tabaiwalu and Tora rode in the back of the van.
Ukitu said the accident happened at Varavu, where a vehicle coming from the Ba side had its headlights on high beam, and when he passed the vehicle, he switched on his own lights to high beam and saw the parked truck just three metres away.
He said the truck did not have any parklights on which caused him to swerve to the right to avoid hitting the back but it was too late.
He said Tubuna and Bola were asleep when the accident happened.
He added that Inia fell towards his side which saved him when the van hit the truck. Tubuna died instantly when the entire left-hand side of the van cabin caved in.
Some farmers who were drinking yaqona at a roadside shop helped take them out of the smashed van while the brother of the van owner Petaia Bari, took the four passengers and Ukitu to the hospital in his van.
The Fiji Football Association (FFA) expected Tubuna’s funeral to be the largest the code had seen.
FFA president Hari Pal Singh was expected to lead a delegation of national executives to the funeral.
Among the expected attendees was former Fiji manager Chandra Dip Sharma, who was said to have been very close to Tubuna. A turnout of about 7000 people was also expected at the Ba stadium.
Former national coach Sashi Singh said Tubuna may have been a terror on the field, but he also commanded much respect and friendship.
District representatives from Suva, Rewa, Lautoka and Nadi were expected to line up alongside the Ba reps and the Ba Moto-Sarava players (Tubuna’s club side) to form a guard of honour at the stadium.
Tubuna’s body left the Lautoka Hospital for his father’s house in Field 40, Lautoka, at 8am before the procession departed for the Ba Stadium at 9.30 on the day of the funeral.
At the Namosau junction, family members continued with the body to Naidrodro for Catholic religious funeral rites, before his casket was taken to the Ba Stadium to lie in state.
Condolences were paid at the stadium by the then Ba Mayor Kishor Govind, Mr Hari Pal Singh and Ba manager, Vinod Patel.
The funeral cortege left the stadium at 1.30pm for the Naidrodro Cemetery where the Lotu ni mate involving the last prayers and the wrapping of the casket in mats was performed.
The Ba Soccer Association paid for much of the funeral costs with the casket provided by the FFA.
A trust fund for Tubuna’s five-year-old Manasa and a child Mrs Rebeka Tubuna was expecting had been started by the people of Ba.
