A minibus driver who plies the Vieux-Fort-Saltibus route has avoided a serious accident by his quick thinking action.
Philip “Dan” Joseph had just driven around a corner at Sapphire, Laborie near the Piaye Bridge when his brake gave way.
The terrifying moment which occurred last week, just after 5pm, had the female passengers in the vehicle in panic while it barreled down the hill.
The vehicle came to a halt after Joseph drove it up an incline and hit a column of a wall house.
“I did it to save my passengers’ lives,” Joseph said, adding that some of them were screaming.
He said he deliberately steered the vehicle into the column on the driver’s side, rather than on the passenger’s side in order to avoid the front seat passengers from being injured.
Joseph said while the vehicle was under the house it was still moving fast heading towards another house.
According to him, had he not steered the vehicle under the house, it could have plunged into the Piaye river which was not far away.
He said at the time of the accident, he was heading to Saltibus with a full load of passengers.
“I held the steering wheel tight to control it. I did not panic at all,” Joseph said.
He said he made a split-second decision to avoid a serious accident.
“I fight with it. I was strong,” he said.
“While the women were screaming, the men were saying “hold it tight” as the bus kept moving down the hill,” Joseph recalled.
He said a few of his passengers only suffered minor abrasions.
According to him, after the vehicle came to a halt, his passengers praised him for avoiding a serious accident.
“They thanked me for saving their lives,” he said.