A 16-year-old girl died when a bus plunged into a precipice along the Faiths Pen main road in St Ann last night. Thirty-nine others are now in hospital nursing multiple injuries as a result of the accident.

The Moneague Police report that about 8:40 pm the driver of a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus was travelling along the main road towards Moneague with the forty passengers aboard. On reaching a section of the roadway, the vehicle reportedly plunged into a precipice.

All forty passengers sustained multiple injuries and were assisted to the Linstead and St Ann’s Bay Hospitals by motorists, personnel from the Moneague Training Camp and the Fire Brigade.

The 16-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the Linstead Hospital while the others have been admitted in serious condition.

The scene was processed by the Area 2 Accident Investigation Reconstruction Unit.

The Moneague Police are seeking the driver of the JUTC bus for questioning in relation to the incident. The driver, Jeremy Stewart, fled the scene of the accident.

The bus was reportedly transporting members of the Bayside New Testament Church of God from Portmore in St Catherine to a retreat at the Moneague College.