Students injured in minibus crash in St Thomas

Several people, including four students, were taken to hospital after a private car and a minibus collided in Ayshford, St Thomas, on Tuesday morning.

 

Emergency services were mobilised early Tuesday around 8:30 a.m. when the two vehicles crashed. 

 

Two students travelling in the PSV were hurt along with two students in the car, officials said. 

 

Barbados Fire Service Station Officer Elridge Straker told reporters: “This morning we received a call about 8:30 hours to an accident here at Ayshford, St Thomas. We responded with Sub Officer Nichols and seven fire officers with two tenders. On arrival, we recognised that two vehicles were involved and about seven persons were involved as well.”  

 

Sub Officer Henderson Nichols gave further details on the ages and conditions of those involved, noting that while several occupants sustained injuries, none were considered life-threatening at the time.  

 

“The driver of one of the vehicles is 16 years old and his passenger was 13 years old. They had minor injuries,” Nichols said. “Inside of the van we had two children as well with facial injuries. There are no life-threatening injuries.”  

 

Ambulance paramedics treated several of the injured at the scene before transporting them for further medical assessment. Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the collision are ongoing.  

 

In response to the incident, the Ministry of Educational Transformation confirmed that students were among those affected and said immediate steps were taken to provide support. In a statement, Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said officers from its secondary schools division were dispatched to assist.  

 

“Following reports of Tuesday morning’s mass casualty involving a public service vehicle in which a few students were travelling, the Ministry of Educational Transformation immediately dispatched school officers from the secondary section to lend support to the affected students,” the statement read.  

 

The ministry said it remained in communication with the police. Officials added that the ministry would continue to monitor the students’ progress and offer additional support where necessary.  

 

The statement also urged motorists to exercise greater caution on the nation’s roads to reduce similar incidents. 

Former Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman also urged stricter enforcement of road traffic laws and greater accountability for those transporting schoolchildren.

Addressing the incident after filing his nomination for the St James North constituency, Blackman stressed that public service vehicles and all entities responsible for transporting students are bound by legal obligations designed to protect children and other road users.

“Public service vehicles, and all entities transporting our students have a duty to, not just a moral obligation, but a duty by law to conduct themselves in a manner that is fit for purpose, that does not compromise the safety of our children or anybody who uses our roadways,” he said.

Blackman pointed to enforcement as the critical factor in preventing similar incidents, noting that existing laws already address unsafe conduct on the nation’s roads.

“What has to happen is enforcement. The law books are clear with respect to how we treat deviance on the road and bad driving etcetera. It’s a matter of enforcement,” Blackman said.

He added that the Ministry of Education would continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Transport and Works and The Barbados Police Service to ensure that regulations governing student transportation are properly upheld.

“And sometimes what you have to do is send a very clear message by making an example of persons who believe that they can flout the law,” Blackman said, adding that “rule of law and law and order must be paramount in all of this.”

The Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport, Roy Raphael, also visited the scene of the collision. While stressing that he intended to reserve comment until police investigations were completed, Raphael used the opportunity to appeal to PSV operators to be more vigilant.  

 

He emphasised that — particularly against the backdrop of recent fatal road accidents — operators must exercise heightened care and responsibility when transporting passengers, especially children.