WESTMORELAND, Jamaica— Four bloodied slippers, a black Adidas school bag, a blue water bottle, a pair of gloves, and a sea of shattered glass paint the grim picture of the scene in Little London, Westmoreland that claimed the lives of three people Friday night.

Alwayne Savariau 48 years-old, his 14-year-old daughter Shanique, and Owen Barnes died tragically in the crash. The father and daughter’s trip to catch crabs, and Barnes’ travel to visit his daughter were cut short.

Savariau and his daughter, who was a student at Godfrey Stewart High School, are said to have shared a close knit relationship. They were pinned down in the vehicle they were travelling in and died together at the scene of the crash.

“Shanique was so close to her daddy, they had a close relationship. She really connected to her daddy,” Teka Thomas, cousin, told Observer Online.

She describes the father and daughter as jovial, adding that Alwayne, a welder, was also hardworking.

One resident in the Little London community described the aftermath of the crash that involved a Toyota Hiace bus and a Toyota Corolla motor car.

“Mi hear di big blast and when mi come out mi see the crowd and three men come out a di minivan [and were rushed to hospital] and mi hear the likkle girl a bawl out,” said the resident, who lives in close proximity to where the accident happened.

“She a bawl and push her foot too and a try come out. She bawl till she dead in deh!” the distraught woman lamented as she described that Alwayne was also pinned down in the Toyota Hiace bus.

According to the police, about 9:40 pm the Hiace bus and the motor car were travelling in opposite directions along the roadway, when the two vehicles collided head-on. The police were summoned and the injured people were transported to hospital where the drivers of both vehicles, along with Shanique, who was a passenger in the Toyota Hiace bus, were pronounced dead.

“[A] big disaster, dem nah take time, like the road a run left them. If dem never a guh hard and dem crash it wouldn’t look so bad. Why you haffi a handle the road suh?” the woman questioned.

A businesswoman who identified herself only as “Peggy” told Observer Online about her friendship with Barnes.

“[He is a] jovial person, pleasant smile. Owen is my best friend, no joke about that. I miss him so much. Right now my eyes dem a run tears from morning,” she said.

The businesswoman was particularly concerned about the number of fatalities in the Little London community.

“If a nuh cow kill wi, a goat and if a nuh goat, a dog. Is like this community needs some prayers,” the concerned woman stated

Meanwhile, councillor for the Little London Division, Ian Myles, also voiced his concern with the number of accidents in the parish.

“I am saddened by the series of accidents that are taking place in the parish of Westmoreland and the numerous fatal crashes as a result of these accidents. Just this week two persons lost their lives in Cave, in the parish and a nine-year-old girl was mowed down on the Little London main road and last night three persons would have died,” a distraught Myles noted.

Myles stressed that the accidents are happening too frequently and appealed to the motorists to operate more cautiously and more responsibly on the roads.

—Kimberley Peddie