Teen dies in crash – Tried to evade garbage truck?

Two of the persons who were taken to Peebles Hospital after a nasty crash last evening (March 15) were treated and released, but the driver Justice Amory did not survive.

Amory, the 19-year-old son of Superintendent of Police St Clair Amory, passed away today, March 16.

BVI News Online understands that some of his relatives watched helplessly as the youngster was being removed from a life support machine at Peebles Hospital.

He had been at the medical facility since last evening when the vehicle he was driving crashed near Bouncer’s Bar at Paraquita Bay, Tortola.

The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), in a media release this afternoon, said the ill-fated vehicle crashed while the late driver evaded another vehicle.

“Initial inquiries suggest that the driver was heading east, when he attempted to evade a vehicle heading west. The vehicle then hit the hillside and overturned.”

“The driver and two other occupants of the vehicle were taken to Peebles Hospital following the collision. The two occupants were treated for injuries and released while the driver was detained… Police investigations will continue into the matter,” added the RVIPF, which said no further details about the deceased are being released at this time.

BVI News Online however understands that the vehicle the late Amory reportedly tried to evade is a garbage truck, which did not stop at the scene.

A total of three passengers were in the Suzuki Grand Vitara driven by Amory, who is a past student of Cedar International School. One passenger escaped unscathed.

Meanwhile, before the RVIPF issued a statement regarding the crash, Commissioner of Police Michael Matthews described the incident as ‘very tragic’.

“We had four persons in a car that left the road, we are investigating why that vehicle left the road. However, I was informed earlier this morning that one individual in that vehicle had suffered serious head injuries and was on a life support machine, and a decision may have to be made later today to switch that machine off,” the commissioner told journalists who approached him for a comment during an unrelated press briefing in Road Town.

At least four die in crashes this year

The latest fatality brings to at least four, the number of persons reported to have died in motor vehicle crashes in the British Virgin Islands since the start of the year.

• On February 18, Nathaniel Wheatley died when the vehicle he was driving careened off the roadway in Slaney, Tortola, and landed in the sea.

• On January 17, Kyle ‘Coochie’ Frank from Purcell Estate died following a motorcycle crash on the previous evening along Sir Francis Drake Highway, adjacent the Treasure Isle Hotel.

• And, on the night of January 27, Virgin Gorda resident Anselmo Hodge died after he was hit in the Valley by a vehicle driven by one of his close relatives.