GEOVANNI Simms, a 14 year-old student of the White Marl Primary and Junior High School was killed yesterday and three of his schoolmates injured when a pick-up truck ran into them while they stood under a tree near their school along the Mandela Highway in St Catherine.

Simms, who was on the morning shift, had just left school for home.

The names of the injured students were not released by the police.

“A Nissan pick-up traveling east bound along Mandela Highway lost control and swerved to the right, hitting a group of four boys standing under the tree,” Inspector Lascelles Walsh, sub-officer in charge of traffic for St Catherine South, told the Observer. “Unfortunately one was fatally hit and the remainder were taken to the (Spanish Town) hospital where they are being treated and I am told that their injuries are not serious,” said Inspector Walsh.

The pick-up, after hitting the students, overturned, but it was not ascertained if the driver was injured. The police said he fled the scene after the accident and was being sought by the police.

Spatterings of blood was seen on the left wheel of the pick-up, as Simms’ lifeless boy lay sprawled awkwardly on a slope. His right leg appeared broken and his head lay in a pool of blood. The teenager’s schoolbag was still on his back and both feet were shoeless.

The accident, which happened at about 11:00 am, caused a huge pile-up of traffic along the usually busy Mandela Highway.