Fifth road fatality leaves 61-year-old dead

By Cherisse M. Sutton-Jeffers
Reporter SKNVibes.com 

~~Adz:Left~~ BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: SIXTY-ONE year-old Esau Belle of Parsons Village is dead following a tragic accident yesterday, bringing the total of road fatalities in the Federation to five.

Reports reaching SKNVibes.com has it that Belle was thrown from the back of a pickup truck when the vehicle he was traveling in lost control and over turned.

The pickup, PA 726, owned and driven by 64-year-old Joseph Hazel was reportedly traveling from Saddlers to Basseterre around 5 p.m. yesterday when it swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle.

“The accident occurred in Bourryeau Village, on the corner of the Biomedical Research Centre (Monkey Farm). The truck pulled away from a bus that was traveling in the opposite direction, lost control and overturned,” informed Inspector Venetta Wyatt of the Traffic Department. “The truck had four occupants; the driver and two passengers inside and Belle on the outside.”   

She said that the ambulance was called and all four persons were taken to the hospital where two were treated for minor injuries and discharged. Hazel, however, remains hospitalized with head injuries.

Belle was less fortunate as he succumbed to his injuries later that evening despite attempts to save his life.

An autopsy was performed on the body of the late Esau Belle, by resident pathologist Dr. Jesus Debrok, who gave the cause of death as traumatic shock due to fracture of the femur.

Police investigation into the matter is ongoing.