A cement truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene after a crash in the Smith Bay area of St. Thomas on Friday morning, the V.I. Police Department reported.
At approximately 9:30 a.m., the Virgin Islands Police Department responded to a report of an auto collision involving a cement truck that had gone over a hillside. Dispatchers informed responding officers that the driver was pinned inside the truck, which had fallen 200 to 300 feet downhill, and was unresponsive, according to the police report.
Emergency personnel from the Virgin Islands Fire Emergency Medical Services and St. Thomas Rescue descended the hillside and confirmed at 10:12 a.m. that the driver had no signs of life. The victim was identified as Liston Pickering, an employee of Heavy Material LLC, the police report stated.
Preliminary investigations revealed the truck was reversing uphill with a load of cement when its rear right tire struck a large rock, causing the vehicle to slide downhill. The driver lost control, and the truck flipped several times before coming to a stop, the report stated.
The incident remains under investigation.
