NINE people, including Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for North-West Manchester Clinton Dietrich, lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents across the island over the weekend.

Dietrich, 60, who lived at Ward Avenue in Manchester, was among five people killed in a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Winston Jones Highway and Mike Town Road in his parish early yesterday morning.

He would have contested the North West Manchester seat against incumbent Member of Parliament Dean Peart of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) in parliamentary elections which are constitutionally due this year.

The other victims have been identified as Melissa Evans, 22, bartender of Eglington, Spur Tree, Manchester; Racliff Lyons, 43, truck driver of Waltham, Manchester; Cary Williams, 36, mechanic, Cedar Grove, Manchester; and Paul Fuller, 36, mechanic of New Green, Manchester.

Police say the accident involving a Toyoto Pajero (SUV) driven by Dietrich, who was alone, and a Honda Vigor (sedan) which was carrying the other four victims, occurred at about 2:30 am in the vicinity of a quarry.

Investigating officer Albert Simpson told the Sunday Observer that available evidence suggested Dietrich, who was returning home from a wake in Bath, close to Somerset in North-West Manchester, exited the Mike Town main road and turned right across the face of traffic without “due care and attention”.

Dietrich’s vehicle collided with the sedan driven by Lyons, which was travelling in an easterly direction at what police believe was very high speed.

Dietrich was thrown from his smashed vehicle into a ditch and suffered severe head injuries. The other four victims were trapped and died in the car. Their bodies were burnt after the vehicle exploded into flames. Both vehicles were burnt out.

Simpson said there was no doubt that speeding was a major factor because the Honda Vigor, which appeared to have taken last-moment “evasive action”, left no brake marks on the surface of the road.

“There was not even an inch of drag mark,” said Simpson. “It would appear that the driver of the Honda saw the Pajero at the very last moment and could do nothing at that stage to avoid impact.”

For hours yesterday morning, a large crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the accident to get a glimpse of the burnt debris that remained by the roadside, as the shells of the vehicles had earlier been removed by wreckers.

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, Opposition spokesman on finance Audley Shaw and JLP heavyweights Christopher Tufton, Joan Gordon-Webley and Sally Porteous all arrived on the scene within hours.

“I am deeply saddened by the terrible tragedy that has happened here this morning and I want to express sincere condolences to the families of the victims during this very difficult time,” said Golding.

“[Dietrich] was someone I knew for a long time. Just two Sundays ago, I attended the funeral of his mother. He was a very hard worker. Replacing him [in the JLP] is going to be extremely difficult but the focus right now is on the family of these victims,” the opposition leader added.

Golding also addressed concerns raised by residents over the location of a bus shed and sign at the ill-fated spot (the site of several vehicular accidents).

“It’s a matter we will have to follow up because there is a danger at this section of the roadway, and people have been complaining about it for a while now,” he said.

Dietrich’s widow was a picture of dejection when the Sunday Observer visited the family home in the Greendale area of Manchester yesterday morning. She described him as a model citizen, husband and father whom everyone loved.

“When I got the call at about three o’clock and the person said my husband was in an accident and that I should get dressed and come, I just didn’t want to believe it,” she said, slowly shaking her head in utter disbelief. “Even now it is all like a dream. It’s like I am dreaming.”

She said what she will miss most about her husband is his perseverance, determination and dedication to his constituents.

Their 25-year marriage produced two children: daughter Kaydene, who is currently in Florida, and son Clinton, a 19-year old University of the West Indies medical student, who is now sitting exams.

At the home of the car driver, Racliff Lyons, located in the Waltham area of Manchester, the mood was no less sombre. A small and tearful prayer vigil attended by family members, Golding and the other JLP members, was in progress.

Lyons’ father, Louelyn, was too overcome with grief, while his younger sister, Jacqueline, struggled to put her feelings into words between sobs.

“This family is very close and to lose my older brother like that is too much to handle right now. I was in Kingston when I got the news and I was and still am in a state of shock,” she told the Sunday Observer. “We know he is gone but it is going to take some getting used.”

Jacqueline descriibed her brother as a person who loved life.

He is survived by two sons – eight and 14 years old.

But the weekend’s tragedies did not begin with Dietrich and the other four people involved in the Manchester accident. At about 9:35 pm Friday, Bryon Jones of a Waltham Park Road address and Venice Wynter, 28, who lived at Keesing Avenue, Kingston 10 lost their lives in a motor vehicle accident along Spanish Town Road.

The police say that two other people – Robert Williams and a woman believed to be in her late 20s – were injured in that accident.

Jones, Wynter and the unidentified woman were passengers in a Nissan Sunny motor car, registered 5194 EW, being driven by Williams. They were heading towards Three Miles, the police report, when the vehicle collided with a Toyota Hilux motor truck registered CF 1103. The truck was driven by Gregory Williamson, who was travelling in the opposite direction.

“All four persons in the motor car sustained injuries and were taken to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), where Jones and Wynter were pronounced dead and the others admitted in serious condition,” the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) said in a news release.

Just over 11 hours later, the KPH received two more accident victims – a mother, 42 and her 25-year-old son. The mother – Jacqueline Burnett of Mountain View Avenue, Kingston 3 – died, while her son, Kevin Benette, was treated and released.

The duo was travelling in a Nissan Sunny motor car, registered 9284 EZ, driven by Benette, along Upper Elletson Road, Kingston 16. Benette reportedly lost control of the vehicle and collided into a gate column. He and his mother were thrown from the vehicle, the CCN said.

Earlier, at about 5:00 am, an unidentified man was the victim of a hit and run accident along Mandela Highway in the vicinity of the Caymanas Crossing. He was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital where he was pronounced dead.