Death toll from St Lucia accident now at 17

-campaigning for general election suspended

Seventeen people died in last night’s horrific accident in St Lucia after a bus carrying mourners plunged off a cliff.

Fifteen people are believed to have died instantly while a girl died today. The body of the 17th person was retrieved from the wreckage today.

The Associated Press said that the dead include an infant, a pregnant woman and the bus driver, 47-year-old Michael Alexander. It was said that he apparently missed a turn in the road and plunged 50 feet down a cliff.

The girl who was found alive in the debris died en route to a hospital.

Police are investigating what caused the accident in the southwest village of Choiseul. It has left the island of 160,000 in deep mourning and shock. AP said that Foreign Minister Rufus Bousquet, who represents Choiseul in Parliament, described the accident as “a human tragedy of unprecedented proportions.”

All the dead were from Fond-Lor, within the community of Dugard in the village of Micoud on the island’s east coast, Police Corporal Trevor Constantine told AP.

AP said that Fond-Lor is an impoverished but close-knit community of about 350 residents that once had a thriving banana industry. Hundreds of neighbours there sang hymns and held a vigil clutching 17 candles in memory of those killed, Education Minister Arsene Vigil James told AP.

“They know each other, so any calamity within that community, all the people there would feel a sense of sadness,” he said. “It was a very grave accident, one that we have not heard of in the history of transportation of St Lucia.”

James, a legislator who represents Micoud South, told AP he visited Fond-Lor early today and spoke at a primary school that lost three students in the accident. Psychologists met with students before the school closed early, like others in the region.

Lorena William, a 55-year-old resident of Dugard, said in a phone interview with the AP that her cousin was among those who died. She said the driver’s three children and his girlfriend also were aboard the bus, as well as a family of five and two twin boys.

“All the people were very close neighbors,” she said. “I know everybody.”

William said she was planning to visit Fond-Lor this afternoon.

“I just could not take it,” she said. “That’s why I haven’t gone there.”

Home Affairs Minister Guy Mayers broke the news during a public meeting Thursday night in the eastern village of Dennery. He asked for a minute of silence.

Today,  both major parties announced they were suspending campaigning for the Nov. 28 general election.

“We pray that the families and our country find strength and courage to cope with this tragedy and hope that we can all unite in compassion and love,” the ruling United Workers Party said in a statement.

Kenny Anthony, leader of the main opposition St. Lucia Labour Party, said he could not find the words to express his feelings.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas this afternoon extended condolences to the Government and People of St Lucia on the tragic accident.

“During this period of mourning, please be assured of our Nation’s and region’s prayers and support. We are especially mindful of the psychological and emotional difficulties being experienced by survivors of the accident and those family members, friends who mourn the loss of their loved ones so tragically and pray for their continued protection and healing in the fullness of time,” said Prime Minister Douglas to his St. Lucian counterpart, Stephenson King.

“It is my fervent hope that your Nation and indeed, family and friends of the injured, the deceased do not mourn like those without hope, but instead rely on their resilience to rise above their current distress,” said Dr. Douglas.