No Jamaican among Ontario crash victims, says foreign ministry

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that no Jamaican was among the 10 migrant workers who died Monday in a motor vehicle crash in Ontario, Canada — one of the deadliest road accidents in the eastern Canadian province in more than a decade.

The driver of the van in which the workers were travelling was also killed.

The ministry was responding to reports which identified the migrant farm workers as Jamaican and Peruvian nationals.

"The Jamaica Liaison Service, with whom contact has now been made, is reporting that Jamaica has no programme in that part of the country where the collision took place and that no Jamaican worker is known to be involved," the ministry said in a statement issued yesterday.

The workers were killed when a truck hit the passenger van in which they were travelling en route from a chicken farm in Hampstead in rural Canada. Three people in the van survived. Police said one was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, and the other two were seriously injured, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The impact is said to have sent the van hurtling across a lawn before smashing into a house. The van's passenger side was nearly ripped off.

AP reports quoted provincial labour minister Linda Jeffrey as saying some of the migrant workers were from Jamaica.

But according to Jamaica's Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Liaison Service has received no notification from any authority.

According to AP, police reported that the van apparently went through a stop sign and was hit by the truck.

No names of the victims have been released. However, Albert Burgers — who owns the farm where the workers were employed before the crash — said some had been with his crew for more than 10 years.

An article on the Toronto Star website quoted Burgers as saying that the workers had spent Monday vaccinating 16,500 chickens and were on their way back to Kitchener when the accident occurred. The report said the workers were supposed to return next Tuesday to help him move the chickens.

Meanwhile, the accident has again raised several questions about health care coverage for migrant workers,.

According to the Toronto Star report, Health Minister Deb Matthews, while describing the crash was "a horrific tragedy", said she was unsure whether the survivors' health costs are covered. She promised to look into the issue.

The report also quoted New Democrat MPP Teresa Armstrong as saying that there should be a coroner's inquest into the accident as she questioned whether the driver of the van was licensed to carry so many passengers.