ST ANN, Jamaica – The death toll from the two-bus collision on the Salem Main Road in Runaway Bay, St Ann on Sunday, July 26 has risen to five.

Another person who was hospitalised at the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital succumbed to their injuries on Sunday.

READ: At least one person dead after two-bus crash in St Ann

Chief Executive Officer at the hospital, Dennis Morgan, made the disclosure on Friday morning.

The deceased has been identified as 55-year-old Winston Brown.

“Of the 18 patients, 10 were discharged…another one died a 55-year-old gentleman, on August 7… so this brings the total number of persons who would have died to five,” Morgan said, adding that only seven of the over 18 persons who were initially hospitalised remain in hospital.

“To date, we have seven persons remaining in hospital, five males and two female patients,” he disclosed.

Brown’s death follows those of 38-year-old bus driver Kermit Grant, 56-year-old Elizabeth Palmer, 20-year-old Khajah Palmer and another man who succumbed at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

READ: Another victim succumbs following two-bus collision in St Ann

In the meantime, Morgan reiterated that a shortage of blood has been hampering surgical procedures on the injured persons.

He made the statement while highlighting that the hospital in recent weeks has also been experiencing an increase in the backlog of surgeries outside of the ones from the accident.

READ: St Ann’s Bay Hospital on high alert after last Sunday’s two-bus crash

“And then you have cases that are not from the accident that would have required surgery, so here you have a backlog…which is normal in the big scheme of things because you would have been dealing with persons who would have been scheduled for surgery such as hernia cases and so on, so you have that pile on,” he explained.

However, in assuring that his team has been getting the job done, he sought to clarify that the recent backlog is not only due to the recent accidents in the parish, but a spillover of surgeries that had to be postponed at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.