There was a major collision this morning at 11:00 at mile 7 on the Northern Highway when a pickup truck crashed into a bus. Very luckily no one was killed - but it could have been much, much worse, but, fortunately the bus ended up swerving off into the bush - instead of veering off on the other side, into the river. That would have been a disaster, but, thankfully it didn't happen. The driver of the pickup - also has to be thankful since he survived the massive impact without life threatening injury.
7news was on the scene and here's what happened:..
Ryan Bainton, Bus Standee
"I heard a sudden bang and then the bus swerve to the left hand side of the road."
Courtney Weatherburne reporting
This morning at 11:00 - this BWEL pickup driven by Hugo Campos collided head on into a Ramos Bus. It happened at mile 7 on the Northern Highway - a stretch of road that has seen many accidents.
Today's one was allegedly caused by the pickup truck:
Bert Ramos, Owner - Ramos Bus
"Before I reach to the customers approached me and they said Mr. Ramos, it's not your driver in the fault. They said that the vehicle was coming on the other side dancing across the street, so the driver try to divert on the other side to prevent running into a head-on and so he tried to divert the guy swing back again. He said as he pull the curve he saw the vehicle on his hand, so he tried to go on that side to prevent running into it."
Inspector Frederick Gordon Sr., Regional Executive Officer
"Preliminary investigations that we have carried out so far indicates same."
Of course, we haven't heard yet from the driver of the pickup Hugo Campos who was rushed off in an ambulance.
Ryan Bainton, Bus Standee
"Someone shouted help him, help him. So I went outside, jump through the back door and I went to see if the man was alright and he was okay. Just his face was a little burst, blood was rushing down, but he was okay. He manage to get through the driver side of the car."
But he wasn't the only one hurt:
Ryan Bainton, Bus Standee
"First of all I was standing but I gave a young lady my seat and unfortunately she got hurt. Some of them like they lash against the back seat of the bus because they were sitting down. I was able to hold on and some people at the front got hurt. A young lady from her knee got dug out and was bleeding. I don't think anyone was standing got hurt. Mostly the people who were sitting, they were the ones who got hurt."
Inspector Frederick Gordon Sr., Regional Executive Officer
"We understand so far that it was about 4-5 people that received minor injuries and the driver of the red pickup I understand received some serious head injury to the face."
Police are cautioning drivers so that they don't see a recurrence:
Inspector Frederick Gordon Sr., Regional Executive Officer
"I would advise that people using the highway, it's Friday, a lot of people want to get about their business and so, but you have to be careful and you have to take it easy on the road. There is a lot of traffic on the road today."
While earlier reports said only 5 bus passengers had to be taken for treatment - owner of the bus line, Bert Ramos today confirmed that 13 passengers had to be treated, mostly for neck and chest injuries. The bus driver Edward Harris was released from the hospital and was giving his statement this evening.
The bus holds 46 passengers and reports say it had as many as 60 persons on board, meaning about 14 standees.
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