Woman dies in fiery St Ann crash - Island Traffic Authority to investigate similar fires

The Island Traffic Authority (ITA) will launch an investigation into vehicles bursting into flames on collision following the latest incident yesterday.

Anastacia Edwards, 38, of Hampton Heights in Runaway Bay, St Ann, died in a fiery crash involving three motor vehicles along the Pear Tree Bottom main road. Reports are that about 6 a.m., Edwards was driving her Honda CR-V towards Discovery Bay when a panel truck travelling in the opposite direction veered into the path of a trailer that was travelling in front of Edwards, hitting its wheel. The driver of the panel truck then lost control of the vehicle which crashed into Edwards. Both vehicles burst into flames. The fire brigade was summoned but was unable to save Edwards, whose charred remains were removed after the flames were extinguished. The police said they are carrying out further investigations into the accident.

ITA director Kenute Hare said the authority has noted the regularity with which vehicles are bursting into flames and will be seeking to mitigate this occurrence.

"I've seen it and we at Island Traffic Authority are also very concerned about what took place in St Ann and we have recognised that quite a bit of crashes have transpired in the country for the past five years where vehicles are bursting into flames when they collide," Hare said. "We are going to launch an investigation into those circumstances to unearth what it is that's causing this phenomenon. Hare said that his team will be on the ground today to begin investigations. They are seeking to find the cause of the fires and what mitigating measures can be put in place. "We are fully aware that with modern vehicles, when they are involved in collisions, there is a fuel shut-off inside the vehicle to basically cut the fuel off and not cause this to happen. So we will definitely be looking at what is causing this."

On February 22, Kimonette Johnson, a 27-year-old hotel worker of Mount Edgecombe in Runaway Bay died in a crash along the Duncans bypass in Trelawny, sometime after 7 a.m. After hitting another vehicle and crashing into an embankment, Johnson's vehicle then burst into flames with her trapped inside.

Last year, 484 persons lost their lives in traffic crashes in Jamaica, the highest number in more than a decade, according to the Road Safety Unit.