Sixteen people, including two children, were injured in an early morning accident yesterday when a tractor and a route taxi (ZR) collided along Bourbon Road in St Lucy.
The accident, which occurred around 6:55 a.m., made the road impassable.
Five ambulances – two from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), one from the St John Ambulance Brigade, one from the Barbados Defence Force and the other from Island Care Ambulance Service – responded to the mass casualty.
They transported six of the injured to the QEH for treatment, while the others were treated on the scene by doctors and other medical personnel and taken to the nearby Maurice Byer Polyclinic by a Transport Board bus.
According to acting police public relations officer Station Sergeant Stephen Griffith, the ZR van – carrying 14 adults and two children ages five and two – was driven by Andre Corey Simmons, of No.1 Bloomsbury, St Thomas, while the tractor was driven by John Riley, 48, of Shorey Village, St Andrew.
Both drivers suffered injuries and were taken to the QEH for treatment.
Onlookers gathered at the scene as police, medical personnel and fire officers carried out investigations.
Both vehicles were extensively damaged.
Up to press time, Griffith said police were still investigating the incident and he could not provide the names of the injured passengers. (RL)
