Vehicle accident

The NCD St John ambulance service dispatched three ambulances and two Paramedic response units to the case and upon arrival found a PMV overturned.

Nine people who were in serious condition were transported to the Port Moresby General Hospital.

St John Ambulance chief executive officer, Matt Cannon has reminded motorists to be careful.

“This is another timely reminder about the hazards of this stretch of road. About every six months there is a serious collision on this stretch of road. It is understood that PMVs are not supposed to be on this road,” Cannon said.

Provincial Police Commander, Superintendent David Seine Jr the deceased identified as Francis Palakandi in his late 50s was driving a Toyota 10- seater with eight others to drop off two students at Divine Word University when they encountered the accident. 

Police said the family left Wabag and were driving to Madang during the night and when they reached Alemo it was around 8am. 

According to the police officer, the mothers were traveling back to Chimbu Province from Madang with their betelnut bags loaded on the truck to sell for their children's school fees.

The police officer (named) stated that some of the mothers injured said they were looking for school fee money and had decided to travel to Madang to buy betelnut to sell in Chimbu. 

The police officers further stated that the vehicle had encountered a mechanical fault while climbing the mountain and went off the road. 

Loop PNG was on scene to capture live images of thick black smoke arising from the burning vehicle as residents stood at the junction to prevent vehicles from going up the street.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver was drunk and was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident at Six-Mile. He panicked and tried to escape through Five-Mile by making a sharp turn at a street, where his car overturned.

The vehicle was set on fire by opportunists while the driver made a run for it before the newsroom arrived.

A witness at the scene said the driver of the maroon 10-seater disregarded a stop sign and drove out into the moving traffic from its left just when the PMV bus packed with passengers driving up from Gordon shocking rammed into its lefts side.

The two vehicles collide in the middle of the heavy traffic with the left side of the 10-seater all smashed and dented inward while the PMV bus slide off the collision and hit the cement wall next to the traffic lights and stopped with broken windshield and dented fronts.