Three people, including a two-year-old girl, are now confirmed dead after Friday's deadly collision between a BDF truck and a motorcycle on the Western Highway. 67-year-old John Frampton Sr. who was riding his cycle was killed on impact while volunteer Private 32 year old Beverly Roches and 2-year-old Carmen Avila, another soldier's daughter were killed. A total of 10 BDF personnel were in the truck along with two children. Tonight 5 are still hospitalized at the army hospital while 2 more are at the KHMH all with varying degrees of trauma ranging from a broken arm to a broken collarbone. 7NEWS was at the army hospital today where we found both grief and gratitude.
Keith Swift Reporting, Email - [keithkswift@gmail.com]
Today the BDF flag at Price Barracks flew at half-mast as the army mourned losses not on the battlefield but on the highway. Volunteer soldier Beverly Roches and 2-year-old Carmen Avila, the daughter of a soldier, are dead. And these injured soldiers aren't returning from the battlefield, they are the survivors from Friday's deadly collision.
Lance Corporal Simeon Cal, Accident Survivor
"My vision is 80% cured and I have minor injuries mostly on the head and then on the knee along with a sprain on the left leg."
Staff Sergeant Gustavo Chan, Accident Survivor
"I have a cut in my arms, in my head, and then on my back I got scraped."
Private Angela Francis, Accident Survivor
"I got three broken ribs and then my neck got pulled out of the socket and that's why I have this collar on. And I feel a lot of pain when I move, if I am in spot I don't feel pain but once I move I feel a little bit of pain."
And despite those injuries, they are fortunate because 2-year-old Carmen Avila who was in the cab of the pickup was crushed and she died along with volunteer Private Beverly Roches. A second soldier Edwardo Cus also was crushed and he almost lost one of his arms. 67-year-old John Frampton was the driver of this now totaled Kawaski Ninja motorcycle. Frampton who has been riding motorbikes for the last 54 years was killed on the spot.
The survivor with perhaps the most vivid recollection is Private Angela Francis who watched the accident from the front cab of the BDF truck. Despite the fact that skid marks observed by 7NEWS indicate otherwise, her account is that Frampton swerved into their lane.
Pvt. Angela Francis,
"When we reached mile 10 by Almond Hill
I saw a man coming on a motorcycle and when I saw this man coming on the motorcycle I actually see him do like this, he was revving up, and he came up straight up into our vehicle so the Staff Sergeant told me to hold on and take care because this is an accident. Then I heard a hard slam like a bang and when I heard the bang, I heard the girl Beverly Roches in the back bawl out. After when I heard her bawl out then I saw the Staff Sergeant divert and when he divert, the vehicle went off the road. When the vehicle went off of the road, then it flipped and after it flipped then I remembered I had the little girl in my hand and I hold the little girl close to me tight and I remembered the little boy too and I held him with my next hand, and I crunched my body over the little girl so she wouldn't get bad hurt. When I crunched my body over her, because I didn't want her to get cut up, I saw the windshield coming into my face and I pushed out my hand and then I got this little cut but I wasn't worrying about it. Right after I did that, I felt a hard knock in my head and that's where I got my head burst and right after that I guess must have gone unconscious and then a little while after when I regained consciousness it is then I felt somebody was pulling me out and they told me you have to come out, come out Francis."
Private Francis survived but she soon realized that Carmen, the 2 year old she was trying to protect, didn't make it. Carmen's father Private Marion Avila, is not only mourning the loss of his daughter, he's also recovering. He was in the bed of the truck and his two children were in the cab. One of them a four year old boy lived, but they watched as the truck crushed his daughter as it flipped. Today while refusing an on-camera interview, he told us how he desperately tried to lift the 8,000 pound truck off his infant daughter and when he did so, he found her dead.
Staff Sergeant Gustavo Chan and Lance Corporal Simeon Cal were in the bed of the truck with Avila and they said they didn't see it coming.
Simeon Cal,
"I just felt at the
moment that all those noises and all those screeching occurring, I just ducked to avoid further injuries on my body and when I realized when my head was among the frame of the vehicle, I started to bawl or yell for help. However to no avail I managed to rescue myself on my own."
Gustavo Chan,
"I was at the back of the truck and I didn't see nothing. I just heard something knocked on the truck and I didn't know what had happened."
The accident investigation is officially in the hands of the police but because it involved soldiers, Price Barracks also has a stake. The Force's Adjutant, Major David Jones, says the army is standing behind its soldiers.
Major David Jones, Adjutant - BDF
"Based on the information given to us by the soldiers and by witnesses that were on the site, they said that the motorcycle was on its side and then for some reason just swerved suddenly straight into the BDF vehicle on the other side."
Jules Vasquez,
Is there any indication if people who should have been wearing seatbelts were not and people who should have been seated in certain situations might not have been or anything like that?
Major David Jones,
"At this moment no, there is not any indication. What it seems though is that it was an unavoidable accident on the part of the BDF driver, it was unavoidable for him for that to happen. Fortunately, probably with his skills, he was able to control the vehicle more for it not to be flipping more than it did."
"It's a sad time but we're trying to recover from it. During this time we normally have our flag at half-staff in respect of the soldier who has passed away and that will remain at half-staff until the solider has been buried. The BDF is a closely-knit organization, we work closely together, we are a close brotherhood because we go through a lot of stuff together that the normal civilian would prefer not to do. So when we lose a soldier we really feel it and we're saddened by it and it'll take some time for us to recover from it because we don't like to lose each other."
It is grief which was visible on the faces of the survivors at the army hospital today, these are survivors who are torn: they are thankful they survived but in grief because one soldier didn't.
Pvt. Angela Francis,
"I feel good to know that I could live to tell the tale but the only thing which is affecting me now is when I go sleep, I jump out of my sleep because I see the man on the cycle every time."
Lance Corporal Simeon Cal,
"I just thank God every time that it was not my day to say goodbye and he gave me another opportunity or privilege [Crying] to be alive."
Again, police have not yet concluded their investigation to determine who was in the wrong and while the bdf claims that Frampton came into the lane of the F-550 Ford truck, tire marks show the truck skidding into Frampton's lane.
Arrangements are still being made to fly out Private Edwardo Cus for surgery to re-attach his arm. The truck was heading to Cayo to drop off rations for a training exercise and then it was scheduled to head south. The driver is Staff Sergeant Jose Escalera who received some scratches and bruises but has since been released from the hospital. The army says all passengers were authorized since they were either staff or the dependents of staff as in the case of the kids. For its part police today say their investigation continues. Funeral services for John Frampton are tentatively scheduled for tomorrow while a military burial for private Beverly Roches is planned for Wednesday.
