Jane Ida  Pinto - Muscat

Muscat, Jan 3: It must be certainly a cruel plan of destiny! When desires and dreams of New Year celebrations dissolved into the deep dark skies, destiny must have grabbed one more innocent soul.  One thing is perfectly true and proven - nobody can predict what is in store for us in the very next moment.

This is one more tragic and cruel road accident in the Sultanate of Oman, which has taken a precious life of a young man. Stanny Alban Gorda died near Sumail on the way to Nizwa on the early hours of January 1, 2006, when the car he was travelling in collided with the bridge blocks.

Stanny was working with Zubair Enterprises – Dhakalia (Zubair Automotive Group) as auto mechanic. He had come to Muscat just 8 months back. In Mumbai, both his father and elder brother have been are bed-ridden and Stanny was the sole bread-winner for the family.

Many people from interior stations in Oman come to Muscat during Christmas and Easter season. Stanny, along with of his two friends, had come to Sts Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi to participate in the New Year’s midnight Mass.

Nizwa is around 175 kms from Muscat. It was raining on December 31, 2005. According to reliable sources, after Mass around 2 am, when they reached a place called Sumail, the driver saw a huge stone rolling down the nearby mountain. He tried to reduce the speed of the car and hence avoid collision with the rolling stone. Because of the slippery wet road, he lost control and the car hit the bridge blocks. Stanny was on the back seat, not wearing seat belts, and he was thrown out few metres away. He was taken to a hospital at once but died on the way.

Stanny’s father Alban Sylvester Gorda and mother Carmeline are currently residing at 3, Rajkumar Chawl, Mohilli Village, Kherani Road,Saki Naka, Mumbai. His brother Clifford Stevan can be reached at 0091 989 277 2821.