Sandwiched under bus, mom saw death

UNDER a bus, pinned between a galvanised roof and her mattress, 38-year-old mother of three Tenille Carla Moses said she woke up on Monday and saw death.

"The roof fell on top of me on the bed, waking me up. It broke the bed and I was hearing sirens. I saw death. I thought I was going to die," Moses said today.

Moses, of Edinburgh Road, Cashew Gardens in Chaguanas, can barely speak because of multiple injuries, including several broken teeth.

"I cannot move much, and I am in pain," Moses said.

She is a victim of the accident which occurred on Monday after a man stole the bus from the PTSC’s Chaguanas terminal and went on a rampage. He crashed the bus into her home while trying to evade police.

Shortly after 3 am, the bus burst through the fence wire, went through the concrete walls of Moses' bedroom, then hit the kitchen wall of a neighbour's home. On impact, the bus came to a halt on top of Moses, who was sandwiched between the galvanised roof and the mattress.

Unaware at the time that the Public Transportation Corporation (PTSC) bus was above her, Moses gathered all her strength and screamed for help, unable to move. Relatives said when the roof fell on Moses, the bus rolled over her before hitting the neighbour’s wall. Police dragged her from under the bus.

At the time, she was alone in the two-bedroom concrete house. Her husband, Kamal Rambally, also called "Baby," and their children spent the night across the road at his parents' home.

Moses recalled, "I called out to Baby and my children. I thought they were with me."

But in fact, she said, the previous night, "At about 7 pm (Sunday) Baby was not feeling well and went across to sleep."

Her husband has kidney problems and did not go to her aid on learning of the accident because he feared it would be too much for him, given his own health issues.

Moses was discharged from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, yesterday morning. She is calling on the public for help to rebuild her home.

Central Division police arrested the 55-year-old driver of the runaway bus in a nearby mango tree after the crash. Police said the man, of Longdenville, has a history of mental illness.