Baby dies in Belair van crash

“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh.”

These words were uttered by Joseph Samuel, as he tried to console himself minutes after the death of his baby son yesterday.{{more}}

Four-month-old Peter Samuel died on Monday in a minibus accident.

The accident took place some time around 1:30 p.m. along the Dauphine main road.

Joseph was not a passenger in the van.

He told SEARCHLIGHT he was at work at the time of the accident and was informed by a phone call.

“He was a jolly youth,” Joseph said.

Baby Peter was travelling with his mother Narrisa Samuel from Riley village to Kingstown in the minibus HN267.

According to reports, the brakes of the vehicle failed, causing it to crash into a drain along the Dauphine main road.

According to some passengers in the van at the time of the accident, “the baby dropped out the window” when the side of the minivan collided with a wall.

The mother of the deceased baby suffered injuries to her head and to both arms.

She was unable to give a comment yesterday, as she was being attended to by nurses when SEARCHLIGHT visited the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

Alston John, a resident of Riley, was the driver of the minibus.

“The brakes for the van dropped in, so instead of allowing the van to go over the bank, I tried turning it towards the drain, but it hit the side of the bank and dragged a short distance,” John explained to SEARCHLIGHT from his hospital bed, where he was nursing minor injuries.

John suffered injuries to his right leg and also informed SEARCHLIGHT that he had chest pains.

“Coming down the hill in Dauphine — the gap by to go in by the spa, I started mashing brakes and all I hear is poop, no brakes. So, I did the best I could to avoid going over the bank below. I couldn’t go anywhere else. I was either try get it (minibus) to the side of the road or else, over the bank,” he added.

According to John, this is his first accident.

Eighteen passengers were travelling in the van.

Kenmore Prescott, one of the passengers, broke her right arm in the accident.

“The van was coming down the hill and like the brakes failed and it was going over the bank and the driver turned the steering the other way to prevent us from going over the bank.

“When the van hit the back though, I got knocked out,” Prescott said.

Peter Samuel’s death is the first road fatality for the year. (AA)