Crash near Ochi leaves baby, 2 women dead
Alesia Edwards
Excessive speeding is believed to be the cause of the nasty vehicular collision near Ocho Rios in St. Ann, Saturday evening, which claimed the lives of three people including a toddler and left several others hospitalized.
The Ocho Rios Police Traffic department which is probing the accident, was on Monday expected to question the driver of the ill fated Mitisubishi Evolution, who is being blamed for the collision with a taxi which plies the Ocho Rios to Chalky Hill route.
Those killed have been identified as 37-year old Latoya Davis and one-year-old Niaheesha DaCosta both of Chalky Hill in St. Ann and Marsha Ferguson of Fraserwood in St. Mary. Davis was reportedly killed on the spot.
Several other persons including the drivers of the two cars sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital by the police. Young Niaheesa was among those transported to St Ann’s Bay hospital, and later airlifted to Bustamante Children’s Hospital, where she died Sunday morning 1:30.
The drivers of the Mitsubishi Evolution, heading toward Ocho Rios and the driver of the Toyota Corolla, heading west, in the opposite direction has to be cut from the mangled wreck, The Times was told.
According to reports from the Ocho Rios police, shortly after 6 p.m, Saturday evening, August 30, the Mitisubishi Evolution was traveling along the Dunn’s River main road in the vicinity of Pearly Beach when it collided with a Toyota corolla motorcar which was being operated as a taxi.
The driver of the Evolution reportedly lost control of the vehicle and swerved across the road into the path of the Corolla which was traveling from Ocho Rios towards Mammee Bay.
There are reports that the taxi was transporting as many as nine passengers. However, that has not been confirmed by the police. There were about four persons travelling in the Evolution.
One eyewitness told North Coast Times that he missed the collision with the speeding Evolution by a whisker. The eyewitness said he was travelling immediately in front of the Toyota Corolla heading towards Mammee Bay with his wife and daughter aboard.
He explained that on seeing the speeding car he had to swerve to avoid a collision and immediately after he heard a loud bang.
“I saw this Evolution bend the corner coming at bird speed and the vehicle swerved towards my car and I had to swerve, and took away myself, and the next thing is when it slammed right into the taxi,” the alleged eyewitness said. He said he immediately stopped his vehicle and rushed towards the accident where he saw several passengers in both vehicles covered in blood.
“Blood was everywhere,” he said. The Evolution was in bushes and the Toyota Corolla in the middle of the road. “I did what I could to help the injured,” he added.
A policeman who was carrying out traffic checks nearby rushed to the scene and quickly loaded some of the injured persons into the police car and transported them to hospital. Shortly after, another police vehicle arrived and transported the other injured persons to hospital.
WEDDING
“There were persons in the taxi coming from market so food was everywhere, bread, eggs, vegetable, sardine, food was just scattered over the place,” he recalled.
The nasty crash caused traffic to pile up for at least two hours, and backed up as far as Drax hall going west and Ocho Rios township in the other direction.
Several motorists reported claimed they had been passed by the Evolution and had uncomplimentary remarks about the driver.
The North Coast Times was told that the Evolution was transporting persons attending a wedding. The groom was in the Evolution. He is said to have been the only person in that vehicle who did not sustain serious injuries.
“He (the groom) came out of the car and was crying and walking up and down in the road,” another eyewitness told the North Coast Times.
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