An early morning collision has left two hotel staffers dead and at least eight others injured after the bus transporting them to work collided with a truck on Saturday.
According to reports, the coaster bus was traveling from St. Ann and transporting staff members of the Excellence Oyster Bay Resort in Trelawny. The vehicle was driving on the North-South highway along the St. Ann/Trelawny border in the vicinity of Braco in Rio Bueno at approximately 4:20 a.m. when the driver lost control of the bus and crashed into a parked cold storage truck. The occupants of the coaster bus were rushed to the Falmouth hospital for treatment, at which point two injured males were pronounced dead.
The men have since been identified as Mikel Thompson and Reece Thomas. Both men were employed in the housekeeping department of the resort. The driver and the other eight passengers remain hospitalized but are reportedly not in critical condition. Speaking of the crash, the Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, described the victims as vital members of the tourism industry and expressed his concern that this latest incident was yet another that would be added to the record number of road fatalities documented in 2022.
Discussions with key stakeholders, the police, and the National Works Agency have reportedly begun to ascertain the reason behind the high number of crashes on the highway, as well as possible solutions.
Image – The Jamaica Observer
