Tragedy struck in the fishing village of Dennery Wednesday morning when an ambulance transporting a patient to the OKEU Hospital in Castries veered off the road and slammed into a house.
Acting Fire Chief Ditney Downes said the 79-year-old male patient was pronounced dead after the accident, while a young female accompanying the deceased sustained injuries.
In addition, Downes told St. Lucia Times that emergency responders had to extricate the ambulance driver trapped in the mangled metal of his vehicle.
The driver, a female Saint Lucia Fire Service (SLFS) emergency responder who was in the ambulance and the young woman accompanying the 79-year-old patient who died were all transported to the hospital.
The accident occurred shortly before 9:00 a.m.
What went wrong here needs to be investigated. Lost of control, avoiding a collusion or lost of breaks. Accidents are inevitable but the nature and circumstances need to be investigated thoroughly. No any or everyone can drive these types of vehicles unless they are specially trained to do so and other drivers needs to be held accountable as well because this is an medical emergency vehicle, we have a lot of selfish, stubborn and carefree drivers as well.
YOU NOT SAFE NO WHERE NO HOW, NOT EVEN IN AN AMBULANCE OMG, I HOPE SHE WAS NOT SPEEDING. CONDOLENCES TO THE GENTLEMAN’S FAMILY.
I was not there so I will not say it is the ambulance fault but a lot of you first responders and police drive way to fast putting others in jeopardy. I understand that there are fools that hear the sirens coming and don’t move over but most time we just cant move over quickly as you would like cause the roads are not wide enough in certain areas where you could drain and even damage your vehicle. When this is done you the driver are now left on your own to fix your own vehicle. That’s why I maintain I am not mashing up my vehicle for NO emergency personnel
Must have tried not to hit a jackass you know Lucians already some of them hear the sirens and will not give way……some fools blaming the driver no just hire her and throw her behind the dam wheel just so.
@ma Malay. I totally agree with you these guys are just ridiculous always trying to push you off the road. speeding round corners in the opposite direction. one of these days one will meet with a concrete truck round a corner and some one will live to tell the story. not because you put on a siren mean you have to be reckless and put others at risk
My hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families. At this point, they need prayers and hopefully at the end the authorities will further investigate the cause of the accident. For now let us pray for them
I pray to God Almighty on the behalf of everyone involved as I extend my condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
Praying🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 and extending condolences – that’s all i can say regarding this tragedy.
Let us mourn 😭 wîth those who 💜mourn, but,
All these comes from the Almighty :
Wonderful in counseling and magnificence in wisdom ❗
The paths of the righteouse is level
O upright One (Jesus) , you make the way of the righteous SMOOTHIE ❗
No one is safe, except the word of God….
This is a real tragedy, very sad and heart breaking but our emergency first responders need to tone it down. Their driving is really outrageous. They do not exercise care, I understand the urgency but they need to drive with caution. I do not know what happened today but look, the gentleman lost his life rather than receive the care he desired. Let us all do our part on our roads with all the challenges they already present.
@ma malay and others…siren means you hear im coming…. move…….there’s a reason for it being loud
The road to the Dennery hospital is to narrow and it has potholes as well. The road from the Dennery hospital leading to the Old Primary School is to steep. Both are death traps.
Why did they stop the building of the new hospital in Bois Jolie?
Local ambulance drivers encounter serious perils every day. I was not surprised when I was informed about the accident earlier today.
To begin with, the roads are too narrow and their shoulders are not improved surfaces. The majority of times, a driver can’t easily slip onto the shoulder during an emergency. Reaction time to an oncoming ambulance is not what it should be. Add idiots overtaking around bends when they can’t see what’s approaching. The job of an ambulance driver is high risk considering all the safety violations taking place by brainless drivers.
Video cameras should have been installed a long time ago, on the front and back of each ambulance. After each mission, videos are reviewed and tickets issued accordingly. Those clowns blaring their loud music would be forced to be responsible. Cameras have been installed on ambulances for decades now in many places across the globe. It always takes a tragedy before anyone acts.
These fools, including some of the commentators are displaying their ignorance and lack of respect for authorities. The police and ambulance always have the right of way whenever their emergency signals are on. I understand that the police misuse that authority so blatantly, that citizens now ignore them. They need retraining. Ambulance drivers however, use their emergency signals as should. In an emergency, the difference between life and death could be just a few minutes, and therefore the quicker the patient could receive necessary treatment the better the chances for life. Speed matters. Remember, it could be you or your loved ones in that emergency 🆘 situation. Every licensed driver should know to get the heck out of the ambulance way in an emergency to help save a life.
This looks a so sad. I am wondering if the ambulance had any mechanical defects that was not noticeable at the time. How often are these vehicles inspected. My condolences goes out to the family.
This was an accident waiting to happen – the location of that house right below a bend in the road. It’s a miracle it never happened before. The ambulance did not just slam into the house as was reported. it had to be airborne and landed on that house below the road…
Truth be told, this hospital needs to be relocated. Whatever happen to the polyclinic that was being built in a safer location.
Ambulance should not drive faster than the speed limit you will get there when you get there the public ready to hang you all here , where their turn comes hum
My issue here is If this was an accident by anther vehicle the SLFS would come out n say Oh Drive with caution, stop speeding bla bla, bla. Truth be said, After every accident Get the report on the cause then open all u mouth. Accident could hv been caused by mechanical failure, driver error or road conditions. As we all await the true cause here i hope the SLFS STOP those statements trying to blame drivers for ALL accidents
To many potholes
some of you are so ridiculous. do you put the public at great risk in the name of saving on person ? and when and if you ever get to the hospital especially in st Lucia that patient may never receive immediate care anyway and still die.
When you hear a siren coming turn your music down and move off the road immediately if you see sirens coming in your rear view mirrow get off the road move to the shoulder immediately,, The Sirens are there to give you warning to move and give them center lane no matter what! Pay attention people, maintain your brakes and suspensions,,,,…… Condolences to all involved, this is truely horrific tragedy straight out of a horror movie! Rip
@smh
yeah but maybe as you are not a driver you wont understand what i am talking about. Nobody is saying that we dont hear the sirens or dont move out of the way all i am saying is there have been and will be instances where you will hear the siren and see the vehicle but depending on the road conditions and the size of the road you wont be able to just go off the road especially certain places in Castries. I am sure that there are drivers that has happened to and can attest to that because most of the times the speed these guys come with lets say around a blind corner and you know since they have right of way they will do anything so yes around a blind corner and that just surprise you you are definitely going to hit the ambulance