Several people injured as three vans collide

Two persons are still in hospital following an accident along the Nelson Mandela Highway in the vicinity of the Lewis Punnett Home, on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, involving three passenger vans. Twenty seven persons were seen at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital and three were admitted. Just before going to press, SEARCHLIGHT was informed that two persons remain in hospital. Still receiving treatment for injuries sustained are the driver of the van H4303, along with front seat passenger, Police Constable 988 Randy John.

The three vehicle smash-up prompted a quick response from staff at the nearby Lewis Punnet Home, who, along with others, assisted in getting people out of the badly damaged H4303 that was lodged between the Jaycees building and the surrounding fence.

The vans involved were- HY403; H3647; and H4303, that all ply the Vermont/Kingstown route and were travelling to Kingstown when the incident happened around 7:15 a.m. It was raining that morning, and the road was wet.

Staff nurse at the Lewis Punnet Home, Tiana Stewart, was one of the first to arrive at the scene and, along with other colleagues, helped to extricate those passengers who were stuck in passenger van-H 4303. In fact, around nine members of staff from the Lewis Punnett Home, rushed to the aid of the passengers, who sustained varying degrees of visible injury.

Nursing aids, male attendants, and a few passengers worked together to cut open the van and rescue the driver and the other front-seat passenger, Police Constable John, who recently joined the RSVGPF.

The rescue team had to break through the roof, the door, and the front of the van to get them out. While some passengers appeared to be severely injured, no one died.

“Everyone who was taken to the hospital was still alive,” Stewart said.

Fine with their names being mentioned, Mechanic/Nursing Aid Kelson Haynes, and Male Attendant Kevin John, also rushed in to help get the van open and rescue its occupants. John used his truck to help get some passengers out of the lodged vehicle.

One ambulance arrived at the scene of the accident scene shortly after the hospital was alerted to the accident, but in the meantime, “We just tried to take out who we can take out and help who we can help, and also assist the ambulance,” when it arrived, the Staff nurse explained.

“In the heat of it, I was just doing what I could at the time. I wasn’t studying how the whole scene was, but it was a bit chaotic,” Stewart recalled.

Those who were injured were reported to have had mainly lacerations (open cuts). The driver of H4303 sustained injuries to his legs.

“They were stuck inside the van itself— they were lodged between the van,” the nurse explained.

Those injured were from all three vehicles involved in the incident, “It was distributed, so some from the van that was lodged on the fence, some from the vans behind,” the nurse also said. In addition to passenger injury, the van H4303 also struck four AC units at the offices of the National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority, as well as a pipe connected to the same office.