Emergency work disrupts water supply in St Ann 2:41 PM
Water woes for St Andrew and St Catherine 2:32 PM
Samuels century leads Windies fightback 1:18 PM
Bolt clocks pedestrian time to win Ostrava 100m 1:03 PM
Churches raising money to fight gay marriage 12:20 PM
Escaped prisoner back in custody 12:06 PM
News
Truck drivers perish in crash
Sunday, January 15, 2012
TWO truck drivers died yesterday in a motor vehicle accident along Highway 2000 in St Catherine.
According to reports from police and fire personnel who were on the scene, the driver and crew assigned to an Isuzu truck operated by the maintenance department of the University of the West Indies (UWI) stopped along the highway
just after midday to repair a defective tyre, when a larger Isuzu truck, which was being driven by Davion Catherwood, 29, slammed into the disabled vehicle.
The driver of the disabled truck, Beresford Morgan, 65, died on the spot while the three sidemen assigned to his vehicle sustained injuries and were taken to the Spanish Town hospital.
However, it took fire fighters more than 90 minutes to remove Catherwood's body from the mangled cab of the Caribbean Broilers branded truck.
Screaming family members as well as co-workers of both men who rushed to the scene from varying locations, had to be restrained by police personnel and other individuals who were among the dozens of shocked onlookers who converged on the gruesome scene, resulting in a lengthy traffic delay.
Some of Catherwood's relatives as well as other onlookers complained about the length of time that it took fire personnel to remove his body from the vehicle.
However, assistant superintendent Horace Thomas of the Spanish Town Fire Department said that the perceived delay was due to the extent of the damage to the vehicle.
"It took some time to get out the driver because of the nature of the wreckage, and so it was within a reasonable time, barring the nature of the wreckage. Every accident is unique and so the time will vary in order to extricate persons," he said.
According to Catterwood's relatives, he was on his way to the Caribbean Broilers Old Harbour plant, while associates of Morgan said that he was in the process of transporting items of furniture to Westmoreland.
A representative of the UWI who was on the scene said that Morgan had just retired from his job at the university and was recently re-engaged on a contract.
 
|
POST A COMMENT
You must first register and then login to be able to post a comment.
HOUSE RULES
1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper – email addresses will not be published.
2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, and before commenting you need to register, conveniently, by clicking the link above.
1/16/2012
Rest in peace my brother beres morgan.we love you and miss you.you will always be in in our heart for ever and ever.sadly miss by mom, wife, daugher, sons, grand kids, families , friends, co-workers.I rememba my brother always have a happy face he likes to socialize very easy goin love his families. he will always there when u need him.
1/15/2012
RIP!! I know I would never rent a car to drive in Jamaica. My shock and horror once seeing trucks and cars overtaking around a bend. you cannot see what is approaching on the other side.
1/15/2012
@paul: the rail will not stop the need for trucks on a highway. Look at the transport system of all developed countries and you will see that most goods are moved by trucks. Rail move bulk items like crushed stones, logs etc. on very long journeys. Trucks will are needed to and from the rail yards, which can't be everywhere. Mass transit in the form of rail for safer movement of personnel and farm goods to the cities, are more required. Again, trucks will have to get the farm goods to the yard.
1/15/2012
What roles are poor road usage and bad driving (including reckless decisions, speeding, and failing to yield) playing in these accidents? Every time you see the mangled wreckage from these accidents, you cannot help thinking of the kind of force that was at work. One effective thing here in the US (for me, anyway) is placing crosses and flowers at the sites of accidents. These things get people to slow down and reflect, even for a short time.
.
And stop selling drivers' licences!
1/15/2012
All these accidents with trucks are highlighting further the need to have a viable rail system which takes these heavy goods vehicles off the road.
Our roads are generally too narrow for trucks and they also damage our roads which are costly to maintain.
Get the trains running! Also the traffic dept of the police urgently needs an overhaul..clearly their strategy (if any) is not working.
High crime and accident rates only add unwarranted stress on our hospitals.
Other Stories
Pension reforms to be implemented this year
0 comments
‘Tourism worries’ - Opposition, JHTA seek meeting with minister
0 comments
Special constable accused of corruption
0 comments
0 comments
Broadcaster Wayne Whyte returns to court July 3
0 comments
$2-m bail for businessman implicated in lottery scam
0 comments
0 comments
0 comments
0 comments
0 comments
Mexican boy's eyes gouged out 'to save the world'
0 comments
UN chief cites unacceptable violence in Syria
0 comments
Jamaica can't afford a stimulus budget — Phillips
7 comments
23.4b Tax grab - Gov't targets extra revenue
7 comments
Canada pumps $62m into Ja’s polygraph programme
0 comments
7 comments
Vendor says GCT reduction not enough
0 comments
Tax measures the death knell for tourism — Cummings
5 comments
Teen killed for laughing at man who fell from bicycle
0 comments
Shaw says taxes will hit small businesses
2 comments
RSS Feeds
