Achi news desk-
The parents of an infant and two grandparents killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby, Ont., last week say they are reeling from their losses.
“Our family is reeling from a devastating tragedy following a wrong-way accident involving a police chase,” read a statement from the parents released on Sunday by the Special Investigations Unit – specifically the father, Gokulnath Manivannan.
Manivannan said he and his wife Ashwitha Jawahar were “grieving the loss of three of the most precious people in our lives.”
“Our 3 month old bundle of joy Aditya Vivaan, our respected father Mr. Manivannan Srinivasapillai and our most pious mother Mrs. Mahalakshmi Ananthakrishnan,” the statement read.
“We are completely at a loss to describe the anguish and emptiness in our hearts knowing that we can never hold our child Aditya Vivaan, who gave us so many precious memories in such a short time, in our hands again,” the statement continued. .
On the evening of April 29, the SIU said Durham Regional Police officers were notified by an off-duty officer of a robbery at an LCBO near Green Road and Highway 2 in Clarington, Ont.
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SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon said officers found a vehicle of interest – a U-Haul cargo van – and followed the van through several streets in Durham Region “as the vehicle was driving erratically. “
Hudon said the vehicle went on Highway 401 at Stevenson Road in Oshawa in the wrong direction and was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes.
Shortly thereafter, Hudon said a multi-vehicle collision involving at least six vehicles on Highway 401, just east of Highway 412, in Whitby, resulted in the death of the three-month-old child, the 55-year-old grandmother , and the grandfather, 60 years old.
Manivannan, 33, and Jawahar, 27, both from Ajax, were also in the car and were injured in the collision.
In the family’s statement released on Sunday, Manivannan said his parents were visiting Chennai, India, with the sole purpose of spending time with their grandson.
They had arrived in Canada just two days before the fatal wrong-way accident, Manivannan wrote.
“My father, who had recently retired at the age of 60, was delighted at the opportunity to spend time with his grandson,” Manivannan wrote in the statement. “He fondly referred to this time as ‘a year of grandparent fun.'”
Manivannan also wrote that his mother, the little boy’s grandmother, was “eagerly looking forward to every moment with her son and grandson, planning to make their stay all about her granddaughter.”
Meanwhile, the SIU said a 21-year-old man driving the U-Haul died at the scene. A 38-year-old man, who was a passenger in the cargo van, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The incident is being investigated by the SIU, which investigates the conduct of officers in serious incidents, including those that have resulted in death.
“The pain of my own injuries pales as I deal with the shock and loss of my parents and only son on the same night and the ordeal continues with my wife’s ongoing suffering from surgeries and flashbacks repeated from the trauma,” wrote Manivannan.
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