(Barbados Nation) A 62-year-old gardener on his way to work was killed in an accident at Eagle Hall junction, St Michael between a Transport Board bus and a minibus this morning around 5:20 a.m.
Dead is George Anthony Blackman of 7th Avenue Harts Gap, Christ Church. He was a passenger aboard the minibus, on his way to work in St James. According to police public relations officer Inspector David Welch, Blackman was identified at the scene by relatives.
The accident occured when the minibus, travelling from Oistins, Christ Church to Speighstown, St Peter and BM54, travelling from Rock Hall, St Thomas to Bridgetown collided at the traffic lights.
Thirty-two others were injured and had to seek medical attention. Fifteen, most of them from the minibus, were taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) by ambulance, while 17 others were transported to the nearby Brandford Taitt Polyclinic in Black Rock, St Michael.
Among the injured was the driver of the Transport Board bus, 42-year-old Tyrone King. He was taken off his bus on a stretcher and was sent to the QEH for treatment.
The driver of the minibus was Kelvin Hall, 37, of Airlie Tenantry, Hinds Hill, St Michael.
The accident triggered the mobilization of the mass casualty response which was managed by Dr David Byer, head of the Emergency Ambulance Service, along with five doctors.
When the DAILY NATION was allowed onto the scene at 6:37 a.m., six ambulances, two fire tenders, the Barbados Defence Force, the Roving Response team, and members of the police including Special Services Unit were already there.
The injured were removed from the minibus, some after the fire service used the Jaws of Life to gain access to it, and were assessed under the mass casualty staging tent on the Rubis gas station compound.
Meanwhile, police diverted traffic away from the scene causing a major traffic snarl. Officers were in place at Lower Bank Hall, Tudor Bridge opposite the Power in the Blood church, Eagle Hall near Sawh shop, and on the Deacons Road corner in Black Rock to assist frustrated commuters.
The diversion created major traffic woes. Long lines of morning commuters who would normally travel through Eagle Hall on their way to the City or to St James, Government Hill, Green Hill and beyond were seen in the minor roads adjoining this major artery.
Scores of onlookers converged on the scene in this heavily populated area.
Though police completed their investigations at the around 10:45, the Government Electrical Engineers’ Department were brought in to repair the damaged traffic lights and up to 11:40 the junction was still closed.
