One of the trucks that were crushed in an accident on Spur Tree in Manchester yesterday. Three persons were killed in the accident. - Angelo Lawrence

Angelo Lawrence, Star Writer

MANDEVILLE, Manchester

Three persons were killed in a four-vehicle crash along the Spur Tree Hill main road at about 5:30 p.m. yesterday. The two trucks and two sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that were involved in the collision were reduced to mangled wrecks.

According to eyewitness reports, a Kenworth flatbed truck which was transporting tiles got out of control and slammed into a Honda CRV that was travelling in the opposite direction. The entire top of the Honda CRV was ripped off and the driver thrown from the vehicle.

Sandwich

The truck then swerved into an oncoming Toyota van and pushed it into a trailer that was reportedly laden with cane on its way to the Appleton Estate in St. Elizabeth. Sandwiched between the two trucks, the Toyota van was crushed almost beyond recognition.

The police say that two males were confirmed dead and three persons were taken to the Mandeville Hospital where they were admitted and one later died. The police were unable to say in which vehicles the victims were travelling as they were all found on the ground close to the wreckage.

As a result of the accident, traffic in both directions came to a halt while hundreds of persons converged on the scene. The latest crash has moved the parish's death toll to 14 since the start of the year, with seven persons losing their lives within the last two weeks.