Hit and run in Port Vila Harbour

A man almost lost his life in a Port Vila Harbor hit-and-run incident Tuesday night.

The man who wants to be known only as Frederic was on a small plywood dingy traveling slowly to Iririki Island from Waterfront Restaurant in Port Vila at 7.15pm when a fast-traveling banana boat ran over him.

He was lucky to escape serious injuries but the incident damaged his 2-horsepower engine, broke the side of his dingy, and left him in the sea after his his dingy was filled with water.

“The boat stopped when the driver realized it had hit something and when he heard me calling for help, the boat took off in full speed,” he said adding, “I could have been dead.”

Frederic, from Tahiti, who works for a local company in Port Vila, said he has reported the matter to the police who are now investigating the incident.

He said the incident left him in great shock. Asked if he saw what color was the banana boat, Frederic said when it ran over him he saw that the bottom was black and added that when the boat slowed down on the other side of his dingy he saw that it was yellow in color.

“I was lucky in that the boat’s engine propeller didn’t cut my thighs as the boat ran over my dingy, because the downward force on the bow of the boat lifted the back and the engine right over my thighs or they would’ve been severed and I would be left in a terrible condition,” he added.

This incident happened a day after a body of a young man from Tanna was fished out of Port Vila harbour Monday morning, which the police is still investigating the cause of death.

There is a message here from this incident for boat operators in Vila harbour to be extra cautious at all times during this busy holiday season.