Passengers making a mad rush to escape the bus through its windows after it collided with a wall in Joe's River, St Joseph yesterday.

A BLANKET OF GRIEF was thrown over Barbados yesterday when six lives were lost in a horrific accident, mere minutes away from the annual East Coast Calypso Bowl party.

The six perished in a single vehicular accident, while 37 others were injured – ten of them critical and hospitalised.

Police indentified five of the fatalities as:

Morton Brathwaite, 49 of Sayes Court, Christ Church;

Adrian Franklin, 35, of Oughterson Park, St Philip;

Lorri Marshall, 31, of Bowmanston, St John;

Nancy Griffith, 42, of Goddings Alley, Church Street, Speightstown, St Peter;

Kenrick Harewood, 30, of Stadium Road, Bush Hall, St Michael;

The sixth victim, a female, was not identified.

The accident occurred at Joe's River, St Joseph just after 11 a.m. when a coach, BT4, belonging to the Barbados Transport Co-Operative Society, slammed into a wall.

It was the worst traffic accident on the island in 62 years following the Lancaster Gully, St Peter tragedy that claimed 30 lives in 1945.

Attorney-General Dale Marshall, who is also MP for St Joseph where the accident took place, described the incident as "a tragedy of enormous proportions for all Barbadians".

The coach was on its way to the popular Mount Gay/Cable & Wireless Party Monarch competition, one of the biggest shows of the Crop-Over festival.

Chief Executive Officer of the National Cultural Foundation, which stages the event, met with some of the grieving families and noted they were "hurting".

He added, "we need the prayers of all Barbadians to get through this tragic incident".

Mass casualty

All emergency services were pressed into service throughout the day, and the Department of Emergency Services rolled out a plan which it had put in place for the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital also instituted its mass casualty programme which ensured that a number of people were treated on location, while emergency vehicles from the Barbados Defence Force, Barbados Red Cross and the Ambulance Service rushed the victims to the hospital.

At the QEH, many relatives and friends along with curious onlookers gathered outside of the Accident & Emergency Department to catch a glimpse of the victims.

Several visibly shaken employees from the Lucky Horseshoe Saloon and Stakehouse flocked to the QEH as well, as a number of their colleagues had been on the coach.

Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin told a media conference that "a big investigation" had been launched into the accident, involving a forensic crew and an accident reconstruction team.

He said counselling was also being offered to relatives of the victims and those involved in the mass casualty exercise. (ES/RJ)