BY RALPH BANWARIE Monday, September 28 2009

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DEAD: Anthony Caraballo....

HOURS after leaving a party in Cumana, Toco, Anthony Caraballo, 34, died after he crashed his car and was impaled by the steel rod of the railings of a bridge, yesterday.

Police said the steel rod of the railing entered Caraballo’s abdomen and exited through his back.

He was pinned to the steering wheel and died instantly.

Caraballo, of Mission Village, Toco, had just left the party at Cumana and was on his way to pick up his brother when tragedy struck.

Police believe Caraballo fell asleep while driving.

The accident took place in the vicinity of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Cumana.

Police and firemen had to use the “Jaws of Life” to free Caraballo’s body. An autopsy is expected to be done today at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

The fisherman’s death has plunged the quiet fishing village into mourning and comes days after five-year-old Cherish Miniva Lezama plunged 100 feet down a precipice to her death, mere metres from L’Anse Noire village, Toco. At Caraballo’s home yesterday, villagers were shocked and saddened by his death.

Caraballo’s sister, Juliana, said when she got a call from the police that Anthony was involved in an accident, she could not believe it.

“I spoke to him just 15 minutes before. I am in shock...I just cannot believe it,” she told Newsday.

Caraballo’s mother, Elizabeth, was inconsolable yesterday.