Another weekend collision occurred just before noon on Sunday at mile 2 on the Western Highway. There was no fatality but 7 people were injured in the accident which involved a BDF van driven by on-duty Corporal Erwin Wade and a pickup loaded with 5 passengers. It was a nasty collision, and the survivors say it could have been much worse.
Eustace Bilal, Driver
"I just thank God I am alive, I am very proud of that, and nobody got seriously hurt. All of us got scratched up."
And Eustace Bilal has good reason to feel lucky when you look at these images from yesterday's massive collision at mile 2 on the Northern Highway. Bilal was behind the wheels of the pickup when a van driven by a BDF soldier collided into the pickup's left side.
This is where the accident occurred. The driver Eustace Bilal says he was making a turn from the Northern Highway onto Chetumal Street when seemingly out of nowhere - the BDF vehicle appeared and collided into his pickup truck.
Eustace Bilal,
"As we were going to Chetumal Street, I looked back and I didn't see anything. As I turned around, I felt the vehicle spinning. I had already made the curve already and that is it. By the time I came out of the vehicle, I saw my son coming out with blood and the vehicle was mashed up."
The pickup flipped multiple times. The left pan of Bilal pickup was crushed and the front windshield was shattered. His son 24-year-old Sharef Bilal received a serious head injury.
Sharef Bilal, Accident Victim
"By the time we crossed the road coming into Chetumal Street, a BDF metallic like silver vehicle, Mitsubishi slammed right into us but by the time I hollered for my father it was already late already. The vehicle already spun. It's a good thing that the child is okay and everybody is okay."
Keith Swift,
So where were you in the vehicle?
Sharef Bilal,
"I was in the pan. I got cut up and everything."
Keith Swift,
What are your injuries?
Sharef Bilal,
"Well my fingers are cut up and I got a lil head injury but besides that everything is okay."
Along with Sharef in the pan of the pickup was 12-year-old Samantha Good and her sixteen-year old brother Mathew Good.
Samantha Good, Accident Victim
"All I remember is I was in the drain and about here the water was and then my brother was unconscious on the highway and then he remembered me and he came and pulled me out of the water. I got this cut and the whole of my face was bleeding and then I got these bruises down here."
An official police report says BDF Corporal Erwin Wade was attempting to overtake Bilal's pickup truck. Bilal maintains he gave the turn signal and his son Sharef confirms that version of the story.
Eustace Bilal,
"The person who is responsible - I am not looking at anything because I am a driver and he probably made a wrong judgment and I wish God blesses him and I wouldn't want anything serious happen to him."
Sharef Bilal,
"We came off the Northern Highway and were going into Chetumal Street and the BDF van was overtaking on a curve - not right."
And what's also not right - according to the parents of the accident victims - is the stretch of highway where the accident occurred. It's a highway but Charlie Good and Anita Bilal say they need a speed bump because it's become a speedway.
Anita Bilal,
"The Northern Highway has to put back the speed bump. They have to put back the speed bump because that road is very dangerous and the Catholic Church had put the speed bump and when the public works finished fix the road they didn't put it back. So please public works, or whoever is in charge, put back the speed bump."
Charles Good,
"I would like to grab the opportunity to ask the Ministry of Works to put back that speed bump, at least that one that they removed."
Those images of the accident scene were provided by Health Max Gym. Police are still investigating to determine which driver caused the accident. BDF Lieutenant Eric Neal was traveling along with 27-year-old BDF Corporal Erwin Wade and he received a swollen ankle. Also injured was 26-year-old Hirian Good who was in the pickup. He is complaining of pain to the back of his neck, right shoulder, and both elbows.
