Two perish in St Ann crash
Published:Saturday | November 19, 2022 | 12:10 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Two persons died on Friday in an accident along the Laughlands main road, near Richmond in St Ann, after a motor car collided with a bus transporting security personnel.
The driver of the car, Alwayne Smith, a fisherman of Steer Town in the parish, was pronounced dead at the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, with 20 persons admitted for treatment, two seriously.
On Friday night, the St Ann police confirmed that a second person had died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident.
Details of the second victim were not immediately available.
Reports are that Smith was driving a Toyota motor car eastward towards St Ann’s Bay with two persons on board, when upon reaching a section of the roadway in Laughlands, the vehicle got out of control and crashed into the bus, which was travelling in the opposite direction.
The injured persons were taken to the hospital, where Smith was pronounced dead and the others admitted.
Smith and his two companions, believed to also be fishermen, were reportedly returning from Westmoreland when the accident occurred.
As news of the accident spread, several persons converged on the hospital compound seeking updates on the victims.
Tears turned to relief for some after initial reports had suggested three persons had died, when, in fact, there had been only one fatality at that point.
The conditions of those persons remaining in hospital last night could not be ascertained.
The stretch of road between Priory and Runaway Bay, encompassing Laughlands and Llandovery, is a known accident hotspot, where several accidents accounting for multiple fatalities have taken place over the years.