6 days ago
7
Senior Reporter
Just over a week after the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) recertified him, veteran bus driver Munsaf Khan suffered a horrific death yesterday when his coach collided with a truck on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Freeport.
The crash also claimed the life of Roxanne Phillip, a mother from Princes Town and SWAT Estate Police Company officer, who had just finished a night shift at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and was heading home.
Khan left City Gate, Port-of-Spain, in a Deluxe Coach bound for King’s Wharf, San Fernando, around 8 am. About 300 metres past the Freeport interchange, the bus slammed into the back of a flatbed truck that authorities said had just suddenly left the shoulder. The impact hurled the truck into the highway median and flung Phillip through the windscreen. The bus eventually came to a stop in the bushes off the shoulder.
Khan died instantly, as he was pinned inside the mangled front of the bus. Phillip’s body was later found beneath the wreckage.
There were 23 other passengers on the bus. Several of them suffered injuries. The truck driver sustained only minor injuries.
Officers in a passing Highway Patrol unit saw the collision and immediately rushed to assist. Officers used a ladder to evacuate terrified passengers through a window. Shaken commuters sat on the roadside after they were freed from the wreckage.
Meanwhile, passersby recorded videos of the crash and soon posted them on social media, some showing the anguish and cries of the survivors when they realised Khan and Phillip had not survived.
Freeport police, Chaguanas firefighters, and ambulances quickly arrived on the scene, and emergency medical technicians transported injured passengers and the truck driver to the San Fernando General Hospital.
However, rescuers spent some time searching for Phillip before finding her body trapped under the bus.
Firefighters later used the jaws of life to cut the crushed driver’s cab and retrieve Khan’s body. Wreckers had to tilt and secure the bus with chains before Phillip’s body could be removed.
The accident caused a massive traffic pile-up in both directions, as police blocked one side of the highway and motorists on the other side slowed to stare at the scene.
Victims’ relatives, colleagues in mourning
At the scene, Phillip’s colleagues from SWAT stood in disbelief. Company chairman Aaron Henry said she had been with the company for five years and was travelling home with a co-worker, who was one of the hospitalised passengers.
He said staff members were trying to cope with the loss and that counselling would be offered to them. Company officials also visited her home. However, when Guardian Media visited, neighbours said she had only lived in the area a short time. They said they often saw her with her daughter and were heartbroken at her sudden death.
The company also posted condolences on its Facebook page: “We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Roxanne Phillip. Her dedication and service to SWAT Estate Police Co Ltd will always be remembered. May her soul rest in peace.”
Several commenters, including colleagues, also expressed their grief.
“Condolences to my ex-coworker who became my friend. When I was an employee at SWAT. Phillip was the first person to show me my role and functions at the nurses’ carpark and she did an amazing job. Always neat and willing to help. She was also hardworking and outspoken may her soul SIP,” one commenter wrote.
At Khan’s home in Avocat, Fyzabad, grief overwhelmed his family.
His brother-in-law, Aftab Baksh, said a fellow PTSC driver’s wife who lived nearby broke the news, and he then had the painful task of telling Khan’s 79-year-old mother.
Baksh said Khan worked at PTSC for more than 15 years, and left home at 3 am daily to transport passengers from San Fernando to Port-of-Spain. Always upgrading his skills, Khan had completed training just last week. His nephew, Asaad, showed a certificate he had recently earned.
Baksh described him as a safe driver and a devout Muslim who never drank alcohol.
“There are a lot of reckless drivers out there. Things do happen, but we and the Government need to put things in place to prevent things like this in the future,” Baksh said.
Asaad said his uncle was a quiet, easygoing man whose death shocked the entire neighbourhood. Even regular PTSC passengers who had travelled with him at some stage visited to pay their respects.
Family members said Khan had been looking forward to a vacation in Tobago next month. They are now calling on authorities to waive an autopsy so they can bury him quickly in accordance with Islamic rites. They hope to hold the funeral today, but said PTSC had not yet contacted them about his death.
Many of Khan’s colleagues, who gathered at the scene, spoke fondly of him, recalling his good driving record. They also praised the work of the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians in responding quickly and efficiently to the accident.
English (US) ·