Hundreds braved the heavy rains and murky flood waters yesterday to attend the thanksgiving service for the last seven to be buried.

Winston Taylor, Beverley Bernard McDonald, Leroy Deans, Althea Anderson, Renaldo Palmer and Carmen Leslie were laid to rest following a massive funeral at the Mill Bank Community Centre in Portland.

The blanket of fog which covered the skies and hill provided the backdrop for the gloomy and solemn affair. Tears flowed freely as residents and family members alike reminisced on the lives of the seven individuals.

Rohan Farr, cousin of Bernard McDonald, said he has not cried since he heard of the accident.

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"I can't cry. I still can't come to terms with her death," he told The Gleaner. "She was the one who would provide the family with food when we went to the market, she would make sure she saved the best produce for us." Farr travelled from Kingston to Portland to attend his cousin's funeral.

Wendell Thompson-Gayle, who works at the Fellowship Community Centre in the parish, was also among those who turned out yesterday.

"I had the privilege of registering little Renaldo," she said. He was a sweet child." Ten-year-old Renaldo was the youngest to have perished in the accident.

Even individuals who were not from Portland or who were not related to those buried were touched enough by the incident to attend the funeral.

Michael Cobourne, a resident of Spanish Town, St Catherine, said he could not miss the event even though he lived so far from Portland.

"It's just the love and thinking about my fellow brothers and sisters why I turn out today," he said.

"I was very sorry to hear about what happened."

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com