MANDEVILLE, Manchester - A 15-year-old student, Shanika Clarke, of Holmwood Technical High School was confirmed dead yesterday and 13 others were injured - three of them seriously - when a minibus packed with school children collided with a truck on New Green Road in Mandeville.

According to the police, the accident occurred shortly before 8:00 am and involved a White Ford Count Flat Bed truck, owned and driven by Franklin Campbell of Waltham Park Road in Kingston 11, and a White Toyota mini-bus, owned and driven by 24-year-old Delroy Wood of George's Valley in Manchester .

A man rummages through an overturned minibus on the New Green Main Road yesterday. Fifteen year-old Holmwood Technical student, Shanika Clarke, of Georges Valley died and 13 other persons were injured after the bus collided with a Ford truck. A motorcyclist who was rushing to find out if any of his relatives were involved in the accident was also seriously injured after his motorcycle collided with a car near the Mandeville Hospital. The motorcycle was torn in two from the impact. (Photo: Montclair Williams)

News of the accident disrupted classes at Holmwood Technical, but guidance counsellors were reportedly on hand to help students deal with the trauma.

"We have been really devastated by this accident," said principal of Holmwood Technical, Paul Bailey. "The school was in shock," he told the Observer.

Bailey said personnel from neighbouring Knox College as well as from the Ministry of Education's Regional Office in Mandeville had visited Holmwood to provide support.

Wood, the bus driver, said he tried to avoid the collision by swerving to the left but he was hit and his vehicle spun and then overturned. He said there were 16 persons in the bus, including the conductor and himself. All his passengers were students.

CEO of the Mandeville Hospital Paulette Elliott said she thought the institution was able to manage the emergency. "I think under the circumstances we coped very well, although there was a shortage of stretchers and other pieces of equipment.

"We had to quickly move those patients out into the corridor and make space for the emergencies that were coming in fast and furious," said Elliott, who commended his team of doctors, nurses and all the support staff who worked assiduously yesterday morning to attend to the emergencies as they arose."