Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

Firemen try to open the door of the Freightliner trailer which ran off the Long Bay main road in St James on Sunday morning. The driver of the vehicle, Glen Francis, was killed. - photo by janet silvera

WESTERN BUREAU:

It took firefighters more than six hours to pry the body of 44-year-old trailer driver Glen Francis from the 30-ton Freightliner truck along the Long Bay main road in St James yesterday morning.

Francis a father of two, is believed to have fallen asleep at the wheel before dawn, running off the newly constructed highway into a ditch. The vehicle then overturned.

A passenger, reportedly his neighbour, escaped unscratched.

"We responded to the call very early, but our equipment was too light to lift the cab from the trench," deputy superintendent of the Montego Bay Fire Department, Lloyd Scott, told The Gleaner.

He said when his team arrived at the scene, the truck was in the trench under 20 inches of water.

Heavy-duty help

Trapped in the vehicle for hours, it was at 10:30 a.m. that Pihl, the construction company building the North Coast Highway, assisted the firemen with a 45-ton heavy-duty crane, which was used to lift parts of the trailer, allowing the rescue team to use its Jaws of Life equipment to expand the cab to remove the body.

"We had to cut the doors and the steering column to release his feet (Francis') which were tied around the gas pedal area," stated Scott.

Police reports are that at 4:45 a.m., Francis was driving a truck laden with bulk cement towards Montego Bay. On reaching a section of the roadway, he reportedly lost control of the truck which overturned, pinning him beneath. Francis sustained multiple injuries to which he succumbed.

Not speeding

André Bennett, who claimed to have witnessed the accident, said the trucker was not speeding.

"It was probably going medium speed when it passed me. Shortly after, it pulled off the road and dropped into the ditch and I heard a thunderous splash."

Bennett added: "The driver's hand was moving when I arrived there."

He said attempts by a tractor driver to rescue Francis also failed.

Francis lived with his wife, Marcia, and children in Kingston.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com