Five people were killed and 15 others injured in a serious crash on the PJ Patterson Highway on Wednesday afternoon. The deaths were confirmed by Jacqueline Ellis, CEO of the Spanish Town Hospital.
The incident occurred around 3:00 p.m. and involved a Toyota Hiace bus operating as a public passenger vehicle travelling eastbound. The bus reportedly overturned into a ditch a few hundred metres before reaching the Vineyard Toll Booth.
According to Dr. Lucien Jones, vice chair of the National Road Safety Council, early reports indicate that the bus suffered a tyre blowout, which caused the driver to lose control. The vehicle then struck a guard rail and flipped multiple times.
“The report suggests that a tyre blew out. Whether the vehicle was speeding will be part of the investigation. The minivan hit the guardrail and overturned several times, which led to the high number of injuries,” Jones explained.
He is urging motorists to exercise greater caution on the nation’s roads and to obey speed limits. “This is a tragic crash that will deepen the nation’s grief, especially in the midst of Melissa. It now brings the total number of road fatalities this year to 342, at a time when police had recorded several days without any deaths,” he said.
Police investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.