Teenager killed in Portland crash
Published:Saturday | July 10, 2021 | 12:09 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
West Retreat, Portland:
A teenager is dead while a man is now battling for life at the Port Antonio Hospital following a horrific three-vehicle accident along the West Retreat main road in Portland shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday.
The deceased, whose name has been withheld by the police, is an 18-year-old female from the Fellowship district in the Rio Grande Valley of Portland, while a man known only as ‘Zebo’ has been admitted in critical condition.
Police sources have revealed that three people were aboard a motorcycle allegedly travelling at high speed towards Fellowship.
According to the police, the driver of the motorcycle overtook a taxi, but upon approaching a corner crashed into a truck travelling in the opposite direction. All three persons were thrown from the bike. The female reportedly died on the spot after suffering injuries to the head.
The truck then slammed into a parked car near a residence damaging a wall in West Retreat.
The driver of the motorbike was also taken to hospital, but his condition is not considered to be life-threatening.
Meanwhile, the police are investigating a motor vehicle crash involving a white station wagon and a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus, which has left several persons injured.
The incident occurred around 8:25 a.m. on Friday along the Lakes Pen Road in the vicinity of the Wisynco plant in Lakes Pen, St Catherine.
Preliminary reports indicate that the bus driver was transporting staff to the Advanced Driver Training Centre, ADTC, and on his approach to the entrance to the facility he indicated to turn right to access the premises. It’s reported that the vehicles behind reduced their speed in anticipation of the bus turn.
However, while the bus was turning, it’s understood that a white station wagon overtook a line of traffic and collided into the right side of the bus.
As a result of the impact, the JUTC driver, along with passengers aboard the bus, was injured and the four occupants of the white station wagon were also injured.
Data obtained from the Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport and Mining Policy Planning and Research shows that 249 persons have been killed (250 with Friday’s incident in Portland) in road accidents as at July 8, 2021.