Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter
Passers-by look at one of the vehicles that was involved in a five-vehicle accident along the Mandela Highway yesterday morning, which left several persons injured. -IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
FOUR PERSONS including a student were injured in a motor vehicle accident following a five-vehicle collision along the Mandela Highway in St. Catherine yesterday morning.
The accident resulted in traffic along the road being brought to a crawl for more than two hours.
Head of the police traffic division, Senior Superin-tendent (SSP) Elan Powell, said that about 6:00 a.m., a bus, which is a part of the National Transport Co-operative Society (NTCS) fleet, was travelling towards Spanish Town when its driver improperly overtook a line of traffic.
CROSSED THE MEDIAN
The bus crashed into the back of a jeep, sending it across the median. The jeep then overturned and collided with three cars that were heading towards Kingston.
The driver of the jeep escaped serious injuries, but the four persons who were travelling in a Toyota Sprinter motor car, sustained serious injuries and had to be rushed to the Spanish Town Hospital.
The driver of the NTCS bus, which plies the Greater Portmore to Half-Way Tree route, left the scene of the accident. He, however, turned up at the Ferry Police Station later in the day.
"Speeding and improper overtaking contributed to this morning's (yesterday's) accident," SSP Powell said while adding that "the police will be intensifying their efforts to minimise incidents of dangerous driving on the roads."
ROAD FATALITIES
When The Gleaner visited the Ferry station just after midday, the driver of the bus, who gave his name as B. Wellington was there along with his vehicle which reportedly caused the accident.
Obviously shaken, Wellington, 42, said that contrary to police reports, he was neither speeding nor did he improperly overtake a line of vehicles.
Since the start of the year, there have been 135 fatal accidents on the nation's roads in which 152 persons have died.
This compares to the 141 persons who were killed on the roads last year.
