More than 24 hours after a major mishap at the Port of Belize, there hasn't been a peep from the management of the publicly owned port.
But we do know that a driver is lucky to be alive - even if an importer is cursing his bad luck after his container plunged into the sea causing him to lose the entire shipment.
Here's what happened yesterday morning as the container was being moved for the pier head to the Port storage area for later clearance:
This is the panicked scene as Port workers scrambled to get the driver who had just plunged off the 20 foot trestle back onto the pier.
On Sunday morning he was driving a towhead from the pier when he lost control and careened from one side of the trestle or bridge to the other, smashed the guard rails and plunged over the edge.
The massive weight and impact of the 20 or 30 tonne container crashing into the sea caused it to breech and the cargo - which had left China from May 25th and wended its way to Belize through so many ports - just floated out into the sea - a fortune in flotsam and a total loss for the importer and an insurance nightmare for the Port of Belize - who bears sole responsibility.
But, while they have a total loss, freshly minted fishermen came up on the cargo which floated all the way out - some of it - reportedly a bale of Air Jordan sneakers seen as far as Old Belize.
The container of dry goods was being imported from China reportedly by U-Mall in Belmopan,
We did ask the CEO of the Port Tux Vasquez for comment but up to news time he had not responded.
