Police Sergeant Denworth Nish tries to calm an angry Seaview Gardens resident yesterday. Residents blocked the entrance to the community which runs off Spanish Town Road after a car, which was said to be speeding, mowed down five children on their way to school. - Norman Grindley/ Deputy Chief Photographer

A group of fourth-form students of the Tivoli Gardens High School in west Kingston burst into tears yesterday morning after hearing the stunning news that one of their classmates, Roxon Johnson, was among five students mowed down by a motor car on Spanish Town Road, Kingston.

The victims were all students of Tivoli Gardens High, but reports are that the 16-year-old Johnson was the worst of the lot. She had to be rushed to surgery in order to save her leg.

"I was teaching the class and when the students heard about the accident, they began crying. One student held her head on the desk and wept," sai Gibson, who was seen speaking with other teachers in the vice-principal's office yesterday.

Speeding

In the schoolyard, ancillary staff and students were heard discussing what took place. Reports are that a group of students was walking from the direction of Seaview Gardens, towards the bus stop, when on reaching the vicinity of Red Stripe, a speeding car hit another, which in turn hit a pedal cyclist.

The speeding car then crashed into a utility pole, climbed the sidewalk and mowed down the students.

"They have been hospitalised," said Wesan Nolan, principal of the Tivoli Gardens High School.

The principal further said that one of the injured students could barely speak at the time when she visited them at the hospital yesterday morning.

Angry residents of Seaview Gardens later blocked the main entrance to community, claiming the accident could have been avoided if the Jamaica Urban Transit Company operated its buses in the inner-city community.