Seven survive free-fall in Melville Battery

Owing to the “grace of God” and quick action of the driver, a number of persons are thankful that they survived a near brush with death early monday morning when the passenger bus in which they were traveling plunged a few feet below the Melville Battery road in Kingshill before slamming into a wooden house in the valley. The accident occurred at about 8:30am during the early morning commute to Roseau. Seven passengers were onboard the Toyota bus, registration number HA 414, at the time of the accident.

According to the chauffer Alick ‘Tony’ Prosper, the bus had just started the descent of the steep hill when the brakes gave way. Realizing the danger, he successfully negotiated the treacherous corner and was intending to ditch the bus against a mango tree at the edge of the road. The bus however rode the left embankment of the hill missing its target by a few yards before nose-diving into a freefall. According to several onlookers, had the bus not slammed into the house it would have plummeted to the bottom of the valley killing all persons onboard. An obviously distressed Prosper with bloodshot eyes and a crack in his voice said, “I am shaken up. To see my passengers so terribly frightened really got to me. I am just thankful to God; it could have been worse.” The driver escaped the freefall unscathed however a number of passengers sustained minor injuries. They were taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital where a number of them were treated for shock.

Meanwhile, Lawrence Thomas, owner of the house that sustained the impact was seated in his living room when the bus slammed into the side of his house. “I heard a rumble on the hill and then I just heard a loud noise,” he said. “When I looked I just saw the bus coming through the window and people screaming.” Luckily no one at the Thomas’s residence got hurt. The house sustained some minor lateral damage. Police are investigating the matter.