Cop dies in crash

A policewoman died late Tuesday following a crash in which several of her colleagues were also injured.

The deceased is Woman Detective Sergeant Maydeen Blackwood. The accident occurred on the Mandela Highway, near the overpass to the North-South Highway.

Blackwood was travelling in a police service vehicle which ran off the road before overturning several times, ending up in bushes shortly after 5 p.m.

Reports are that the injured officers were rushed to hospital, where Blackwood was pronounced dead.

massive gridlock

Blackwood, who was pinned in the vehicle for some time, was also a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force choir, THE STAR understands.

There was a massive gridlock along the major thoroughfare at peak hour. Scores of police personnel visited the crash site.

A section of the highway was cordoned off as the police searched for weapons that may have fallen from the vehicle as a result of the wreckage.

The National Works Agency said that the accident resulted in delays for motorists heading from Spanish Town towards Kingston.

Traffic was diverted on to a section of the western carriageway. There was another traffic accident on Tuesday involving the police - a collision between a service vehicle and a civilian driving a Honda at the intersection of Central Avenue and Constant Spring Road. That accident occurred about 2 p.m.