MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The consensus last night was that speeding triggered the minibus crash which left four people, including three female students, dead at Bryce Hill, two miles north of Christiana in North East Manchester yesterday morning.

The three students — all of Holmwood Technical High School and who resided in Trelawny — were identified as Vanessa Buckle, 18, of Stettin District, Albert Town; Lyonisa Whyte, 17, also of Stettin; and 17-year-old Petrina Clarke of Wirefence District, which is also in the vicinity of Albert Town.

They were all sixth formers who had transferred to Holmwood from Albert Town High and Holland High in South Trelawny. Whyte had represented Holmwood at netball.

The fourth victim was Anthony Brown, said to be the owner of the bus. He also hailed from Trelawny and was reportedly functioning as conductor when the accident occurred.

Police said last night that they were conducting investigations to identify the driver of the white Hiace minibus which carried the forbidding name ‘Not Nice’ painted in bold red letters on the front of the bus.

Police confirmed that two children were airlifted to the Kingston Public Hospital for emergency operations yesterday. Three others were operated on at the Percy Junor Hospital in Spalding, Clarendon, just over the border from Manchester.

The police said that as far as they were aware all those aboard the bus were taken to hospital. There were varying reports yesterday as to how many were actually aboard. The police said 16, but other reports reaching the Observer suggested there may have been as many as 20.

At Holmwood Technical, winners for a ninth straight year of the high school girls athletics championships last weekend, the scene was one of shock and grief yesterday.

“It is as if you are on a high and then just fall flat on your face,” vice-principal Edward Hector told the Observer.

He confirmed that guidance counsellors from the Ministry of Education and neighbouring schools were quick on the scene to assist in counselling sessions for students and staff. Hector said more devotions and counselling would take place today. “It is a very difficult situation, but we are trying our best,” he said.

Those earliest on the scene of the tragedy, which is overlooked by an imposing Presbyterian Church, said the speeding vehicle failed to negotiate a steep, winding corner at about 7:30 am and crashed into a wall, before overturning. There were early reports of the roof of the vehicle being ripped off on impact. It turned out it was actually cut and torn off during the rescue operation.

Yvonne Morris, whose house is “protected” from the roadway by the wall, said she heard the loud “blum” as the vehicle made impact and rushed out to see “smoke everywhere” and bleeding children crying and asking for water.

It was only after she rushed back out of her house with a jug of water that she realised that there were victims trapped under the bus. Neighbours were trying to remove victims from under the bus, she said. Passersby quickly whisked the injured to hospital.

Up to early afternoon, locals were speaking in hushed tones of the horrific site of blood and death.

“I won’t eat meat again for now,” vowed one man who said he had tried to help the injured.

That particular piece of roadway is no stranger to accidents. Locals pointed out that it actually started out as a detour, since an earlier route — just a few metres away — had become unusable because of a breakaway.

Morris told how the wall at her house was built because a vehicle ran into the house years ago breaking the hip of an elderly woman. The injury eventually led to the woman’s death, she said.

Locals complained bitterly that drivers were often guilty of recklessly speeding. “Look at the hill! No way you should speed… but some people do it,” complained one man.

It was a theme supported by head of the Manchester police Superintendent Lascelles Taylor: “It is a very steep corner and any conscientious driver going around this corner would not go beyond 15 miles per hour (but) it is evident, based on the impact, that this driver was going at a high speed… I am imploring all road users to abide by the road code and drive within a speed [that] you can control the vehicle properly.”

A grieving Hector, in the meantime, called on the authorities to pay greater attention to speeding involving vehicles transporting schoolchildren. “We love to adopt practices from abroad. We need to adopt that one,” he said.