ON DECEMBER 7, 1995, an accident on the Spur Tree main road put a great damper on the Christmas spirit in that section of Manchester, when a four-tonne Industrial Gases Limited (IGL) truck overturned and exploded after developing mechanical problems.
Those killed were truck driver Sydney Miller, 46, Alfred Jackson, 44, and his two stepchildren, Yokono, 14, and Jason Davis, who died after suffering severe burns.
His wife Leonora Jackson was the sole survivor.
Some residents, newspaper reports said, awakened to 'terrible crashing noises' as the body of the trailer, which was on its way to Westmoreland, ploughed into houses in its path, wreaking massive damage on residences and death in the bargain.
The accident left just under $60 million worth of damage to livestock and property.
SIMILAR SCENARIO
Thirty-eight years prior to that accident, a similar scenario only with more savage consequences unfolded in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, an accident that eclipsed the Spur Tree tragedy in terms of the number of lives it brought to an end and the sheer destruction it wrought.
Eight children, two women and a man died, and a further 70 persons were injured in the burning tanker truck tragedy which struck the sleepy little village in the middle of Christmas morning celebrations.
The Christmas catastrophe occurred when a 1,500 gallon tanker truck carrying high octane aviation gasolene to Montego Bay overturned on the North Coast highway at Runaway Bay square. One report suggested that the tanker had swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian, then skidded across to a wall by the road and overturned.
According to newspaper reports, the tanker came to rest with its wheels in the air and gasoline started to flow on to the roadway. Residents, attracted by the crash, flocked to the scene. Reports indicated that the tanker driver, Lascelles Williams, urged the villagers to leave the scene, as the gasoline was highly flammable.
GREAT HORROR AND DEATH
He did so, and apparently saved his life. But community members stayed to collect the leaking fuel in buckets and pans. Suddenly, there was a great flash and a roar; five people were burned to a crisp instantly. The fire, along with great horror and death, spread quickly through the square, as a mountain of fire set about its job of devouring everything in its path.
On December 25, 1967, the Children's Home on Haining Road, New Kingston, was gutted by fire, leaving six infants dead and six schoolgirls, as well as three teens, homeless.
On December 26, 1949, six persons were killed immediately and 32 injured, four critically, in an accident involving three trucks in Westmoreland. According to police reports, a truck which was proceeding from George's Plain towards Amity with persons returning from a cricket match at Belvedere, stopped on the road.
One of two trucks going in the opposite direction collided with it, tearing off the side and throwing the occupants to the ground. The other truck, the driver of which was Vincent Young of Grange Hill, ran over them, killing six persons and injuring the others, who were shuttled off to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital. Young was arrested and charged with manslaughter.
