MONTPELIER, St James – Six persons were killed and 11 others hospitalised, some with severe injuries, in a bloody three-vehicle collision in dense fog late Friday evening along the Montpelier main road in rural St James.

All six dead were travelling in the same vehicle – a Toyota Corolla – whose blood-soaked and mangled wreckage, with bits of human flesh clinging to its mechanical parts, provided horrifying evidence of the carnage.

Police named the dead as:

. Jermaine Gregory, 25, of Cove Road, Lambs River and the driver of the death car;

. Nishcho McPherson-Reid, 25, law student of Bethel Town;

. Eyon Gooden, 25, security guard of Belvedere Hall in Westmoreland;

. Cynthia Beckford, 35 of Norwood, St James;

. Shin Green, 12, of Chester Castle, Hanover; and

. an unidentified male passenger.

The injured were identified as:

. Samuel James of Salt Marsh, Trelawny, 58, driver of a minibus;

. William Brown, 56, police sergeant assigned to the Clark’s Town Police Station;

. Margaret Green, 48 of Chester Castle, Hanover;

. Wilfred Knuckle, 70;

. Beverly Ward;

. Maurice Grant, 82;

. Gladson Prawl, 65;

. Collette Kerr, 25;

. Monique Kerr, 25;

. Venessa Barrett, 14; and

. Amanda Williams, all of Hatfield, Westmoreland addresses.

Police said the Toyota Regius mini-bus registered PB 2045 with six passengers aboard, was travelling along the

Montpelier main road towards Montego Bay when it collided with a Toyota Corolla motor car registered 0759 ED with six occupants, and a Suzuki Swift registered 8995 ER driven by Ralph Kerr with four passengers.

The mini bus was travelling in the opposite direction towards Ramble, Hanover.

Four of the seven passengers who were aboard the Toyota Corolla died on the spot and two while undergoing treatment at the Cornwall Regional Hospital where all the injured were admitted.

A motorist who said he witnessed the accident, told the Sunday Observer he was travelling behind the minibus towards Montego Bay in the vicinity of the old JDF camp when it failed to negotiate a curve in thick fog.

“The minibus veered out of its lane, grazed the side of the oncoming Suzuki Swift and slammed head on into the Toyota Corolla, which was right behind the Suzuki. It was horrible. People were screaming and bleeding all over the place,” the eyewitness said.

Some of the dead and injured passengers had to be cut out of the wreckage, which snarled traffic for several hours on both sides of the road, the motorist said.

Yesterday, Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of traffic, Elan Powell, has used the tragedy to reiterate his call for drivers to desist from overloading their vehicles.

“I am really again appealing to drivers, and not only drivers but passengers – don’t go into vehicles that are overladen.

Even though the drivers have a responsibility to carry the required number of passengers, the fact is that he’s hustling to make a bread, at the expense of some persons’ lives. I don’t think that anybody’s life is worth that” he said.

“As I have indicated before, the major causes of our accidents are excessive speeding, excess passengers, defective vehicles and improper overtaking,” Powell said. “The point is, when a vehicle is overladen with passengers it is going to be difficult for a driver to manoeuver, as he or she will not have the space in an emergency situation.

“Apart from that, those vehicles (the minibus) were manufactured to carry a particular weight. Any weight in excess of that will make it difficult for the vehicle to stop,” he cautioned.