WHAT started out as a celebration, ended tragically in Long Island, New York, U.S.A., on Monday, when, around 03:40 hrs, a 17-year-old, driving a 2012 Subaru Impreza motor car, recently presented to him by his parents, lost control of the vehicle and crashed at a dangerous spot, killing his four friends on board and seriously injuring himself.    The lad, Joseph Beer, of Guyanese parentage, was rushed to the Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, Long Island, whilst the lifeless bodies of his four friends, also said to be Guyanese, were taken away to a morgue. The dead were identified as Peter Anthony, Chris Khan, Neil Rajaba and Darian Ramnarine – all said to be 18, three of them attending Richmond Hill High School.

Police, responding to a call, arrived at the scene at Malverne, Long Island, where they found the wrecked car, literally split in two and the four bodies lying motionless. Reports coming out of New York said the lads were tossed out of the vehicle ‘like rag dolls’.

Beer’s motor vehicle was said to have ‘sped off a treacherous stretch’ of a Long Island highway and he failed to negotiate a sharp and dangerous turn, notoriously known as ‘dead man’s curve’. Reports coming out of New York said that as the car hit a tree, it split in two.
           
But police said the 17-year-old Beer should not have been at the wheel in the first place. He was the holder of a driver’s permit, but was not driving under the supervision of a certified driver, hence, as a learner, he was prohibited from driving, unless accompanied and supervised by a driver, 21 or over and who is the holder of a valid driver’s licence.
    
Meanwhile, there was deep anguish at the scene of the disaster as relatives, of the young men, numbering about 20, on learning of the horrific accident, rushed down to enquire.  
       
Commenting on the tragedy, Lakeview Fire Department Chief, Heather Senti said that the stretch of the parkway in Long Island is especially dangerous. She disclosed that there were two other single-vehicle crashes at the same spot on Monday.
The car in which the lads were travelling was given to Beer by his parents, as a reward for good performance at school. He was said to have graduated from Richmond Hill Secondary School early, which made his parents proud. Pathetically, this celebration was short-lived. No one claimed to have known where the young men were heading at the time of the tragedy.