Two families have been left to mourn following a traffic crash on Christmas Eve that left a taxi driver and one of his passengers dead. The crash took place at Pear Tree Bottom near Runaway Bay, on Thursday morning December 24.
Forty-five-year-old Donovan Thompson, a taxi operator of Benin Road, Brown’s Town, St. Ann and a passenger in his taxi 29-year-old Ian Brown, a butler of Royal Sands Hotel, Falmouth were killed and three other passengers hospitalized.
It could not be determined Monday if all the passengers had been released from hospital.
WAS HE SLEEPING?
Investigating officer, corporal Curtney Miller told The Times that it appeared the car being driven by Mr Thompson, in a westerly direction drifted into the path of a water truck being driven towards Runaway Bay. Following impact, both vehicles ended up in the left lane headed west.
Asked if Mr Thompson was sleeping as reported, Cpl Miller said he could not confirm those reports as he was still taking statements.
Mr Thompson’s mother Althea Bailey has been querying the location of the truck. She said she had not seen it at any police station. “I am very puzzled. Why would the truck move? It not at St. Ann’s Bay police, it not at Brown’s Town police or at Discovery Bay police,” Ms Bailey said.
“Mi son dead… me no say him neva did anyting wrong, but me need fi know where the truck deh and get some answers,” she continued
Asked about the truck, Cpl Miller said it remained on the scene until the arrival of the police and he asked for it to be removed to the Examinatin depot at St Ann’s Bay to be examined by a certifying officer as per procedures, as part of the investigations. He said following examination it was released to Noranda.
Reports from the Runaway Bay police are that at about 10:48 a.m., Thompson was driving his Toyota Wish motor car along the roadway, when it collided with a water truck. Thompson and Brown reportedly died on the scene.
The injured persons were taken to hospital where they were admitted.
The driver of the Noranda bauxite water and an assistant on the truck were said to have received minor injuries.
Family of taxi driver shocked by death
The mother of taxi operator Donovan Thompson, Althea Bailey says she still wants answers about how he died. She said he was the eldest of her six children. He has three brothers and two sisters.
She said he was a jovial, friendly, kind and very loving to his family and friends. He often visited her daily when she resided in Standfast, Brown’s Town, St. Ann and continued doing the same when she moved to 2 Main Street in Brown’s Town.
“Everybody a tek it very bad and them can’t believe because Donovan anuh careless driver. Is a shock to the family and the community,” Ms Bailey told The Times while adding that her son resided at Benin Street in Brown’s Town with his girlfriend.
Ms Bailey said Donovan Thompson’s father, Coeval Thompson, is also taking the news of Donovan’s death very hard. “A him first child and him love him. Him a take it very hard,” she said.
Mr Thompson also leaves to mourn four children. One of his daughters, Petagay Thompson described him as a man who had been there for all of his children. “It is very hard (dealing with his death), and I’m not doing so well… He (Donovan Thompson) has been there for all of us. He was always talking and texting with us… It is very shocking,” she said.
In the meantime, Ms Bailey said that the truck involved in the accident was not seriously damaged and so she is asking for the investigations to be completed to provide her with answers, because she is puzzled at this time regarding the accident and how it happened.
