Eighteen people were injured and hospitalised yesterday, following a motor vehicle collision on the east-bound leg of Mandela Highway in Kingston.

According to the assistant district officer at the Spanish Town Fire Station, Andrea Morris, the vehicles travelling in opposite directions collided after one driver lost control of the vehicle and swerved to the opposite side of the road. An oil spill had been created earlier by a leaking garbage truck.

“It was a Toyota Hiace minivan and a Suzuki Swift. The Toyota Hiace was coming from the Spanish Town end going into Kingston, and the Suzuki Swift was coming from Kingston going into Spanish Town. The driver of the Hiace informed me that while driving he saw the road wet and he applied brakes and realised that it was oil and then he lost control of the vehicle, [and] swerved across the road and ran into the car,” Morris told the Jamaica Observer.

“When I went on the scene we saw two persons lying on the ground, as well as the driver of the bus. I realised that the driver was hurt so he was also transported to the hospital,” the commanding officer on the scene said, as she recalled the details of the event.

The driver of the Toyota Hiace, Kevin Evans, is said to have been seriously injured; while Keisha Miller Grant — the driver of the Suzuki Swift — was transported by her family to see a physician.

A total of 18 individuals were being transported in the bus, many of whom were taken to the Spanish Town Hospital to receive treatment. The driver of the car was its only occupant.

“While coming back I stopped at the hospital and was informed that six of 18 were transported to KPH (Kingston Public Hospital), the other 12 had just minor injuries, but only the driver and one other person was seriously injured,” Morris told the Sunday Observer.

“One person from the Hiace bus was still at the Spanish Town Hospital. I don’t know if she had been transported as yet ,I was told that her hip was broken. So a total of 12 are now at Spanish Town Hospital, but they are not all serious,” she continued.

According to Morris, the fire station received the call around 7:40 yesterday morning and the accident happened in close proximity to the Ferry Police Station.

The officer reassured that the oil has been covered with dirt and the area is again safe for commute.