(iWitness News, SVG) – At least seven persons, mainly students, died after a minibus plunged into the sea in Rockguter, an area between Owia and Fancy on the northeastern tip of St Vincent yesterday morning.
Police and government officials say that five bodies were recovered from the sea, and one person died in hospital, and another died on the way to hospital.
Police are still trying to verify how many persons were in the minibus when it plunged into the sea sometime between 7 am and 8 am.
One police source has said that officials were told that the minibus, which is licensed to carry 18 passengers, was “full” when it left Fancy, the northernmost community in St Vincent.
Residents say that minibus was packed with students on their way to North Union and Georgetown Secondary Schools, two communities further south in this North Windward constituency.
They say that the conductor was standing, a suggestion that the minibus was carrying more persons that it is licensed to, a common practice in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
A large crowd has gathered at the scene where two Coastguard patrol boats were looking for bodies or survivors.
The efforts are being affected by especially large waves characteristic of the Atlantic side of St Vincent, where the terrain is an alternation of steep inclines and deep gorges and winding roads.
Among the bodies recovered from the water is that of a female student dressed him her school shirt.
Her body showed signed of trauma, presumably inflicted as it knocked against the large rocks that line the shore.
Civilians standing on the rock pulled the body from the water about an hour after onlookers initially saw spotted it bobbing about in the foamy water.
It is not yet clear what caused the incident, but police say that villagers were notified by persons who jumped out of the vehicle before impact.
Villagers say that a boy who was believed to have sustained broken legs was swimming in the water and was taken to hospital.
In the wake of the tragedy, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves announ-ced a postponement of his Budget Speech, which was scheduled for yesterday afternoon.
The speech will now be made this afternoon.
