Neville Paul and Damion Mitchell, Gleaner Reporters
Onlookers view the mangled truck that was involved in an accident on the Gutters Main Road, on the border of Manchester and St. Elizabeth on Saturday night. Six people were killed in the crash and two others seriously injured. - PHOTOS BY PATRICK THOMPSON
SANTA CRUZ, St. Elizabeth:
UP TO late last night, the two survivors of a motor vehicle accident which occurred along the Gutters main road in St. Elizabeth were still battling for life in hospital while six others lay dead.
The accident which occurred about 11:40 on Saturday night claimed the lives of Clifton Bowen, Carlos Smellie, Recton Gayle, Kenny Beadle, Kiplin Bent and Arthur Ricketts, all of Darliston, Westmoreland addresses.
At day break yesterday, curious on-lookers stared in awe at the mangled Leyland motor truck in which the men were travelling.
According to the police, the driver of the truck, Clifton Bowen, lost control of the vehicle which was loaded with lumber. The truck slammed into an embankment in the vicinity of the Essex Valley, St. Elizabeth and five of the men died on the spot. Ricketts succumbed to his injuries at the Mandeville Regional Hospital.
It took firefighters, the police and volunteers more than two hours to remove the bodies of the men from underneath lumber and twisted metal of the ill-fated truck.
Hours after the deadly crash, Veron Bent, 63, the father of 16-year-old Kiplin was still searching through the debris for just about anything he that belonged to his son.
SOUGHT COMFORT
Finally, he found a pair of green shorts. Shaking his head in disbelief, Mr. Bent threw the tattered garment back to the ground and then sought comfort from other relatives who were also on the scene of the tragedy.
"He was only trying to work him lunch money to go to school this week, that is why him was on the truck and now him gone," Bent sobbed with his voice waning.
In the meantime, Sergeant Ian Lawrence of the Santa Cruz Police Traffic Department says it appeared that the truck was over-loaded. "The truck has a maximum laden weight of 10 tonnes but is estimated to be carrying three times that weight", Sergeant Lawrence said.
He used the opportunity to appeal to drivers, especially operators of large units, not to overload their vehicles.
And, he also warned that the police would be more aggressive in their efforts to prosecute motorists who continue to overload their vehicles.
