Almost every Belize City resident who shops downtown is familiar with Doony’s, at the corner of Albert and Prince Streets, and so news of the sudden and tragic death of the store’s owner, Sunil Chandru Sadarangani, 34, early this morning has left the community in awe. But none more than his relatives and friends, and the close knit Indian community, who are still trying to come to terms with the gripping loss of this young, prominent multimillionaire, who died unexpectedly early Thursday morning.
Several Los Lagos residents, relatives and friends told Amandala this morning that Sadarangani, popularly known as “Doony,” drove his late model Toyota Prado into the lake at Los Lagos (Ladyville) apparently because he did not realize he had come to the end of the road. Doony—who police reported had been “socializing with friends” in the area—was driving on a street that intersects with the ring road, which borders the lake; but instead of turning onto the ring road, he reportedly drove straight into the lake.
Sadarangani, reportedly alone at the time of the accident, was a very popular businessman, and he was at one point director of the Commercial Free Zone in Corozal at the Santa Elena border post. He was part owner of Del Amo Plaza in the Free Zone, a close friend of his, Jack Punjabi, told Amandala.
Our newspaper received reports that three men in a white car who were driving behind Doony when he was leaving Los Lagos, went to call his friends for help, and they immediately rushed over to try and aid him – with the hope of saving his life.
One young woman told us that her aunt jumped into the water to try and help Doony get out of the vehicle. Doony was still alive and struggling to open his door, she said. The aunt finally managed to open the door from outside and she struggled to drag Doony onto the island at the middle of the lake – about 10 feet from where his vehicle landed, head down in the lake, she recounted.
Some Hispanic neighbors, some who spoke only Spanish, told Amandala that shortly before 1:00 a.m., they heard a loud noise and when they came out to investigate, they saw the Prado almost in the middle of the lake, partially submerged. They witnessed the valiant rescue efforts of two women and three men, who ardently tried to help Doony.
The niece of the woman who rescued Doony from his vehicle told us that they attempted to do CPR on him, and she saw him choke up some water, so they knew he had not died on the spot.
However, they complain that 911 did not respond to their emergency call, and told them to contact Ladyville Police for help.
“When I tried to explain to them that Doony needs a paramedic, they hung up the phone on me,” the woman told us.
The friends expressed concern that the life of the very popular businessman might have been saved had he gotten the right kind of help in time.
Our newspaper has since found out that emergency calls are routed directly to the Police. The Belize Emergency Response Team (BERT), the paramedics, informed us when we checked this afternoon that they never received a call to help Doony last night. Our efforts to clarify the matter with police this evening yielded no results.
After the woman retrieved Doony from the waters last night, she and the rest of the civilians took Doony’s in the white car to the Belize Medical Associates. A friend said that doctors at Belize Medical Associates tried to revive Doony, but they were informed minutes after they arrived, at about 1:30 a.m., that Doony was dead.
Jack Punjabi, Doony’s long-time friend, was on the scene with several other friends of Doony’s after 10:00 this morning, while the wrecked, soaked Prado was being hauled away from the site of the tragedy. He told Amandala that Doony’s wife, Varsha, and parents are visiting India, but they are scheduled to arrive in the country on Saturday.
Punjabi said that the reports they had gotten were that their friend was returning from the Free Zone, and he had probably gone to Los Lagos to drop off someone.
Doony is originally from India, and his friends told our newspaper that he has lived in Belize for 30 years, since he was a child.
In respect of his tradition, he will be cremated, probably on Saturday, on a special plot of land the Indian community has designated for that purpose, his friends told us.
Sadarangani was a member of the People’s United Party’s Albert Division Committee since 2004. Albert Area Representative, Hon. Mark Espat, expressed his deep regret over his untimely death, saying that when he got the news this morning, he felt very, very saddened by it. Espat told us that he would also like to acknowledge the work that Doony did as a committee member, not only for the Indian community, whose core resides in Albert, but also for his work with the wider community.
We understand that Doony was in the process of expanding his money-lending business outside the City.
Sunil “Doony” Sadarangani, a resident of Graduate Crescent, Belize City, had no children, his friends told us.