The Star: September 14, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday September 14 2017 9
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Fire rages, homes at risk
Halswell lake claims mother, father
• By Kurt Bayer
A DRIVING lesson turned into
tragedy leaving a five-month-old
baby an orphan and a family
mourning.
The bodies of Sheetal Ram,
31, and her husband Avneel, 27,
were removed from a lake in
Halswell yesterday morning after
a car plunged into the water on
Tuesday night.
Family member Hinesh Kumar
identified the bodies at the
scene as those of his sister-in-law
her husband, police are yet to
formally identify them.
The couple are the parents of a
five-month-old girl.
The large group of family
and friends formed a guard of
honour as the bodies were carried
from the lake shore to the
waiting hearse.
Mr Kumar said Avneel was a
“hero” for trying to save his wife
after their car slipped into the
lake, reportedly while he was
giving Sheetal a driving lesson,
about 5.45pm.
The family is devastated and
are being consoled by friends.
“This is obviously a very
tragic event for the wider family,
many of whom are here at the
moment,” Superintendent Todd
said.
TRAGEDY: Avneel Ram and wife Sheetal died when their car plunged into a Halswell lake. They
leave a five-month-old baby girl.
“What appears to have occurred
is that about 5.40pm the
vehicle has driven into the lake
and we’re determining exactly
what the causes are.”
He said in spite of speculation
about what had happened, it was
too early to confirm anything.
A crane pulled the car out of
the lake yesterday afternoon. It
was found in poor visibility at a
depth of about 6m, Superintendent
Todd said.
He wouldn’t confirm exactly
where the bodies were found,
whether they were inside or
outside of the vehicle.
Victim Support and police liaison
officers were with the family.
The couple’s child was being
cared for by family members of
the Fijian Indian couple, originally
from Suva.
“He is a hero to us. He tried
to save his wife. Not everyone
would do that,” Mr Kumar said.
“We never expected this to
happen to us.
“We are totally lost. We don’t
know what to do now, we don’t
know what the next step will be.”
The close-knit Fijian Indian
community in Christchurch is a
big help, the family say.
They described the couple
as “very friendly, very happy
people”.
“They were really fun to be
around, really nice,” Mr Kumar
said.
Sheetal came to New Zealand
last year, but her husband has
been in New Zealand for about
five years. He ran an air conditioning
company and was well
known in the community. He
was teaching his wife how to
drive so she could find work.
Witness Jordan Fleming said
he was walking his dog past the
Westlake Reserve when he saw a
woman in a red hatchback in the
car park, and a man outside trying
to open the driver’s door.
“I heard the accelerator go
and that’s when the car went off
the bank down the hill into the
lake,” he said.
The man jumped in and swam
after the sinking car, diving and
resurfacing several times, Mr
Fleming said. Then he dived and
did not reappear.
Firefighters and police tried to
dive down to the vehicle to see if
anyone was trapped inside.
Other witnesses said two other
people who tried to save the pair
were taken away by ambulance.
A diver went into the lake but
came up indicating he could not
reach the vehicle, locals say.
The lake sits in the middle
of a housing development in
Halswell. Residents say it’s a deep
former shingle quarry, popular
with runners, walkers, cyclists
and children feeding ducks.
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