Van crashes into Largo Heights home

Elmore Ammon and his common law wife Lenore Quashie got the shock of their life last Friday morning, when a van, “Darkie” HN 829, overturned from the public road on to their Largo Heights home.{{more}}

The van had been reversing down the hill on the public road just above the house, when the accident happened.

Quashie said she was in the house shortly after 7 a.m. and had just finished speaking to her son on the phone when she heard a loud noise. She said she was not sure what had caused the noise, but shouted to Ammon to get out of the house. Quashie said she squeezed through the front door, while Ammon, a tailor by profession, said he jumped through the window near to where he was seated at his sewing machine.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the area, Ammon and Quashie were thanking God that no one had been hurt. Ammon showed SEARCHLIGHT the damage caused to his home by the crash, including broken household items. He pointed to broken rafters in his roof, which he said had been caused by the impact of the van on the house.

One eyewitness told SEARCHLIGHT that she had travelled in the van from Kingstown and had alighted at her gate, shortly before the incident occured.

The elderly woman said as she stood at her gate with her bags, she observed the van travel a little further up the hill, where it took on a few other passengers. She said the driver then began to reverse down the hill.

“When me look, me see the van going over. Me say ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God’. Me just had to sit down and drop the bags right here.”

She told SEARCHLIGHT that she was still unable to come to grips with what had happened.

The conductor of the van told SEARCHLIGHT that when the vehicle went over the bank, there were six persons on board – himself, the driver and four passengers.

“We crawl through the window,” he told SEARCHLIGHT, when asked how they were able to escape.

Police are investigating the matter.