Three killed, six injured in St Elizabeth and Manchester crashes
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — A 15-year-old is among three road fatalities following a hit-and-run crash and two other crashes in Manchester and St Elizabeth between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Vice-chairman of the National Road Safety Council Dr Lucien Jones told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that Jamaica has recorded 149 road fatalities since the start of the year, which he said is alarming.
“Slow down and be careful to wear your helmet [motorcyclists]... Road fatalities are more than worrying, it is alarming,” he said.
In the latest incident, Jordane Stewart, a student at the Maggotty High School in St Elizabeth, succumbed to injuries he sustained following a hit-and-run on the Holland Bamboo main road on Tuesday.
Police reported that about 6:50 pm, Stewart was riding his bicycle when tragedy struck. According to the police, on reaching the vicinity of Holland Estate, the driver of a silver Suzuki Swift motor car who was headed in the opposite direction overtook a line of traffic and hit Stewart. The driver did not stop. Stewart was taken to the Black River Hospital where he died while undergoing treatment.
Up to press time, the police had not yet ascertained the registration number of the vehicle that hit Stewart.
About 20 minutes earlier, two motorcyclists were killed in a collision on the Oxford main road in Brompton, also in St Elizabeth. They have been identified as 22-year-old Jason Taylor, a labourer of Brompton District, and 33-year-old Jason Salmon, a labourer of Oxford District.
The men were reportedly travelling in opposite directions on their motorcycles about 6:30 pm when they collided.
According to the police, Salmon was headed towards Black River when Taylor allegedly collided in his motorcycle after overtaking a motor vehicle.
The motorcycles caught fire upon impact. The police said no registration plates were affixed to the motorcycles. Both were pronounced dead at the Black River Hospital.
In the neighbouring parish of Manchester, six people were taken to hospital yesterday following a two-vehicle collision on the New Green main road in Mandeville.
Police reported that about 8:00 am, a truck and a taxi collided on the thoroughfare in the vicinity of Patrick Road.
Five people who were aboard the taxi were treated and released from hospital, while the driver of the truck who had to be removed from the vehicle by firefighters received injuries to his feet and was admitted to hospital.
The crash resulted in a pile-up of traffic on the major thoroughfare.