HAVANA, Cuba – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) says no Caribbean student had been killed in a vehicular accident here over the last weekend.
“The CARICOM Heads of Mission in Havana seeks to clarify news reports which claim that five students had been killed in a vehicular accident in Cuba are misleading,” according to a statement issued by the grouping today.
“The Caucus further wishes to assure the parents of students on scholarship in Cuba that no Caribbean student died in the accident,” the release said.
The CARICOM Caucus, however, confirmed that there was an accident in which a bus carrying students to an activity to celebrate Grenada’s 39th anniversary of Independence in the eastern province of Camaguey overturned along a highway.
The accident resulted in minor injuries to some students from Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas and Mozambique, who were all treated at hospital and discharged, the release said.
“The Caucus later learnt Sunday of the lamentable death of one Cuban national as a result of the accident in circumstances which have not been made clear.
The CARICOM Heads of Mission regrets the alarmist nature of the news report datelined Havana and for which none of the CARICOM Embassies in Havana had been contacted for clarification prior to publication,” the release said.
Hundreds of Caribbean nationals are pursuing university education in Cuba as a result of an agreement between several CARICOM member states and the Cuban government. (CMC)