Robert Lalah and Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Reporters
Onlookers gather around the car which was involved in a tragic accident that claimed the lives of three children and injured four others on the Old Harbour Road, St. Catherine yesterday. - PHOTO BY RASBERT TURNER
A HORRIFYING traffic accident along the Old Harbour Road in St. Catherine yesterday morning claimed the lives of three young students of the Innswood High School in the parish.
Three other students of the school, and a 24-year-old illegal taxi operator, received serious injuries and were admitted to hospital.
Dead are Mark Campbell, 13, of Frazer's Content; Trisha McLeish, 14, of Port Henderson Road; and Ricardo Beckford, 14, of Friendship Housing Scheme, all in St. Catherine. Hospitalised are Chennroy Chambers, 13, of Tawes Pen; Shanika Fearon, 13, of Flowers Lane; Suddan Scarlett, 13; and Kevin Francis, 24, of an Old Harbour Road address.
Police say the children boarded an illegal taxi driven by Francis in Spanish Town about 6:30 a.m., en route to school. Upon reaching 61 Old Harbour Road, in the vicinity of the Sydenham Villas Housing Scheme, Francis, who is reported to have been speeding, attempted to overtake a line of traffic. He reportedly swerved off the road to avoid an approaching vehicle. The car spun out of control, hit a concrete post and catapulted into the air, before coming to rest on its side.
Ricardo Beckford and Mark Campbell, both grade seven students, died while being rushed to the Spanish Town Hospital by passers-by. Trisha McLeish died while undergoing treatment.
As loved ones of the dead and injured turned up at the hospital, the atmosphere became so filled with despair, that it brought tears to the eyes of complete strangers.
According to the Spanish Town traffic department, Francis was stopped earlier in the morning, and reprimanded for playing loud profanity-filled music. A policeman confiscated the driver's music compact discs and emptied the car of its passengers. Francis was let off with a warning. The police said Francis, however, reloaded the vehicle soon after with the students who would only minutes later be involved in the fatal collision.
