WESTERN BUREAU:
THREE FAMILIES are now mourning after five people perished in a horrific crash as a Toyota Noah collided with a box truck in Bluefields, Westmoreland, on Monday afternoon.
The five include a mother and her son; a mother and her teenage daughter; and a female passenger identified as Janet Thompson, who served as cluster manager for the People’s National Party’s McAlphine Culloden in Whitehouse in the parish.
The only survivor was the taxi driver, who the police say left the scene of the collision shortly after they arrived.
Police reports state that about 3:30 p.m., a grey Toyota Noah taxi was travelling along the Bluefields main road towards Whitehouse when a vehicle in front of it slowed down at a certain spot. The taxi operator swerved to the right to avoid an accident, but instead collided with a box truck travelling in the opposite direction.
The impact caused the Toyota Noah to careen off the roadway and crash into a tree, killing three of the passengers on the spot.
Two others later died at hospital.
The road was reportedly wet and it is believed that the taxi operator was speeding.
Accidents along the Bluefields main road happen quite frequently and commanding officer in charge of the parish of Westmoreland, Senior Superintendent of Police Wayne Josephs is urging motorists, particularly those steering public transportation, to take extra care on the roadways.
“It is not just their lives in their hands, but the lives of others, so they have to be extra careful. Road users on a whole, especially now going down to Christmas season, there is a lot of madness on the road, so I am appealing to all road users,” he told The Gleaner.
He is also appealing to motorcyclists to wear helmets and passengers to use the seatbelts in the vehicles in which they are travelling.
“Usually, those sitting in the back are thrown as missiles towards the front during an accident,” he cautioned.
Yesterday’s road deaths follow the fatal collision on the Braco main road in Trelawny last Saturday afternoon. Two women perished in that three-vehicle accident.
Reports are that the Toyota Isis was travelling from Discovery Bay towards Duncans when on reaching a section of the road near the Melia Braco Village, the driver overtook a line of traffic and collided with the Kia Sorento that was travelling in the opposite direction. The impact pushed the Toyota Isis into the path of the Kia Sportage, which was travelling from Montego Bay.
Both drivers of the Isis and the Sportage lost control of their vehicles and ended up in a ditch.
Adrene Gordon, a passenger in the Isis, died on the spot while Heather Stennett, also a passenger in the Isis, died at hospital.
The other persons with injuries were admitted to the Falmouth Hospital.
Up to November 7, there had been 345 road fatalities since the start of the year.