Sunday evening in the Dominican Republic, the driver of a coach Eddy Evaristo Peralta González (30 years), lost control of his vehicle due to a probable failure of the brake system and the speed of the vehicle on the Jarabacoa highway in the province of La Vega (Center).

The balance is heavy 50 wounded, several in serious condition and 5 deaths confirmed by the Dominican authorities. All the people on the bus were legal migrants, all of Haitian origin except for two people including the driver of Dominican nationality.

Among the victims, 22 were young Haitian players from Sporting Football Club of Maimón who were accompanied by supporters returning from a friendly match against a Dominican team, according to Jacqueline Polonia, Director of Civil Defense of the province of La Vega.

The 4 Haitians who died on the scene are Peterson Clermont, Calix David, Jacques Joseph and Eventz Julmist. The 5th victim Joanes Augustin died at Morillo Kings Hospital in La Vega. The bodies of Haitians were transported to the morgue of this hospital.

The wounded were taken to the Luis Morillo King and Juan Bosch Hospital in La Vega, said Central Cibao Regional Health Director Freddy Abba. 23 wounded are still hospitalized at Luis Morillo King Hospital and would be in stable condition according to our information.

Following this tragedy, many people wonder about the attitude of the Dominican driver who preferred to jump from the vehicle on the road, leaving him crashing without control with his passengers...

Celsius Amiscar of Haitian nationality, President of Maimon Football Club asked for an investigation to be conducted on the bus driver stating that it was an irresponsible act to jump out of a out of control vehicle to save his life by abandoning passengers their fate claiming "he had to keep control, seek a solution to protect the lives of his passengers who were under his responsibility," pointing out that this vehicle had already been defective in the past, but that the driver had told him before leaving that the problem was fixed...

On Monday, the relatives of the victims considered that there had been negligence in the investigation, stating that no one visited the hospitals to question the wounded and determine the exact circumstances of the accident and intends to lodge a complaint.

SL/ HaitiLibre