The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

TWO men are dead and two others are in the hospital following a horrific two-car collision that occurred in Abaco early Monday morning.

Chief Superintendent Craig Stubbs confirmed the incident, noting that shortly after 7am, police in North Abaco received a call of a traffic accident south of Cooper’s Town.

“The two vehicles involved were a blue Toyota Corolla (with three occupants) and a white Chevy Malibu (with one driver) …. We know that both vehicles were traveling along the S C Bootle Highway when they collided head on into each other,” he said.

According to CSP Stubbs, the driver and the rear seat passenger of the Toyota were pronounced dead on the scene.

The remaining passenger and the driver of the white Malibu, he said, were airlifted to the capital for further medical treatment. Up to press time, officials confirmed that they were in stable condition.

In an interview with The Tribune, President of Humanitarian Aid and Rescue Project (HARP) Burke Bryant, who was one of the first on the scene, said responders worked as best as they could to treat seriously injured passengers.

“One of the guys had a broken femur and a few lacerations. The other guy that was in the car with the other two guys that had passed had major trauma to his head and severe lacerations all over his body and internal bleeding,” he said.

According to Mr Bryant, responders had to wait for three hours or more for men to be airlifted to New Providence.

“We didn’t get airlift until 11.30... You had basically one doctor on the island, maybe two now, but the rest - no one else was licenced and cleared. Government claims there’s three but what they don’t (say) is the other one is on Hope Town. The government has not stepped up and has not put doctors in any hospitals,” he said.

When asked what he believed may have caused the fatal collision, he responded: “The guy that was heading out of Cooper's Town I was able to speak to because he was conscious. He said the other car started veering off the road into his lane. He flashed his lights and then they collided… that came from the guy that ended up in the accident.”

Police have not released the names of the deceased victims, but it Abaco residents say one of the victims is Rudolph Lightbourn from Sandy Point.

This traffic accident came nearly two months after Hurricane Dorian devastated the island, flattening many homes and businesses, while also leaving thousands displaced.

In response to the fatal accident, many Dorian survivors from Abaco took to social media, expressing their condolences over the deaths.

According to police, there have been 37 fatal traffic accidents so far this year, leaving 39 people dead.