Lamanai, it's a popular tourism site in the Orange Walk District and to get there, most take the scenic boat ride on the New River. But, yesterday morning at 11, over 40 tourists could have lost their lives in a massive boat collision. Only 1 is dead, but the lessons and the losses are many. Our colleagues in Orange Walk at Northern Cable have been following up the story and Keith Swift fills in the details.
Keith Swift Reporting,.
The new river looks peaceful but this was a deadly scene yesterday. This is the boat, Mrs. Cristina, that Vicente Avila was captaining yesterday with 14 tourists onboard when it was collided head on with this boat "the Rio Reina" in a narrow curve in the river. The Rio Reina captained by Fidencio Vellos had 27 Italian tourists on board. Avila was heading to Lamanai with 14 tourists along with his son. Vellos was returning to Orange Walk. Vicente's father Julian wasn't on the boat but has gathered what happened.
Julian Vicente, Father of Deceased
"Just after passing back landing there is a piece of the river where it is the narrowest piece that we have on the river. It has some very dangerous curves so that when Vicente got there, definitely he always had the precaution that something was going to be coming.
Vicente stopped and when he stopped, Chino said, 'this was my break to go and fly pass him.' When Vicente became conscious that that big boat was going to knock him somewhere, Vicente decided to move away from where he was but the river was so narrow that he didn't have enough space to go to. So the bow of the boat, moved away towards the right but the front piece moved away but Vicente, where he was as the driver, he had to move his position a little closer to the boat and there is where the boat knocked him.
The boat came by and just knocked him. When he knocked him the boat just went over. I think at that precise moment, when Beto tried to move the boat, he must have lost his balance and fell out of the boat and right into the river because the whole thing had turned over and maybe the propeller caught him somewhere. I didn't see him much because I didn't want to see it but really he got a very bad cut to his head."
The blow to the head was fatal as Vicente died later at a hospital. Surprisingly no one else received any serious injuries. The elder Avila says he doesn't know who was at fault but he says yesterday's accident which killed his son was one waiting to happen.
Julian Vicente,
"If we are saying that tourism is for the small man or not for the small man but tourism is for the development of the future it should be sustainable. I am saying that we Belizeans in Orange Walk, Orange Walkquenos, should learn to protect what we have."
And more than saving tourism - yesterday proved that it is also about saving lives.
The Italians have since left the country. The Police, the Port Authority and the Tourism Board are investigating the accident.
