5 people were killed this morning on the Western Highway in a disastrous road traffic accident. The scene for the worst traffic tragedy this year was set when a James Bus traveling from Belmopan to Belize City experienced mechanical problems and had to pull over unto the shoulder of the road at mile 39. The driver got out to see what was wrong and 6 good natured passengers followed him to help. It was the worse mistake they could have ever made as an Isuzu pickup truck driven by 57 year old Cuban Dr. Carlos Correa Fernandez, and accompanied a Cuban nurse 31-year-old Dayamis Guerra came barreling towards them. Alfonso Noble was on the scene and spoke to the bus' conductor and the only surviving passenger.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Shortly after 9 this morning this James Bus Line that was traveling toward Belize City began experiencing low oil pressure. The driver pulled the bus over at mile 39 on the Western Highway to make checks. What happened next can only be described as tragic.
Bus Conductor,
"We had problem with the bus, the oil pressure dropped and we decided to park off the road and see exactly what the problem. Apparently when I stepped out of the bus, the passengers, five of them, followed me. While I was assisting my driver, I heard a scraping of a tire on the road. When I turned and looked back, that was when I saw a green Isuzu coming towards the bus and I shouted at my passengers to get out of the way and they ran to the side of the bus while I ran to the back. So that is I escaped unhurt.
Actually it was where they were fixed the road and set a pair of culverts, it had some big holes in it and when the vehicle came over the hill and saw it at that spot he pressed his brakes and the road was wet and slippery so it slid and ended up into the bus."
Alfonso Noble,
So everybody was slammed into the side of the bus?
Bus Conductor,
"Yes."
Fromy Daly, Witness
"The bus parked on the side and the conductor told us to come out of the bus because there had a problem with the bus and there was another bus coming to pick us up to take us to Belize City. And everyone came out of the bus but I didn't come out of the bus. I sat in the bus for a while and there was this green vehicle coming from Belize City, going towards Belmopan and the vehicle was coming under speed and when it reached at this point, it was going so fast that it jammed a hard brakes and the vehicle turned over. And when the vehicle turned over, everybody started to run.
The conductor told everybody to move out of the way but I guess they moved in the wrong direction. Everybody moved and the vehicle turned and slammed everybody against the bus. And when the vehicle slammed everybody against the bus, at the same time I was getting to come outside and when I felt the slam against bus, I sat down back on my feet and when I came out of the bus I saw all the bodies on the ground, everybody. One male was dead on the spot. The three other
persons, a male and two females, they were still alive but by the time the ambulance came they died."
As she held her baby at the scene of the accident today Fromy Daly who did not wish to appear on camera says the only reason she was not lying on the road dead as well was because rain had forced her to stay inside the bus to shelter her baby.
Fromy Daly,
"Because of my baby and I think it was drizzling a little bit so I decided to sit in the bus for a while and thank God I didn't come out of the bus because I would have been one of those bodies down there too.
I feel very nervous right now. I still feel bad about the whole situation because I know some of the people on the bus like the nurse and her kids, I know them. And the lady that just got on the bus at the Roaring Creek junction."
Alfonso Noble,
So you think one of those people could have been you?
Fromy Daly,
"Yes I guess so yes. Me and my baby because if I had come out of the bus the same time with the crowd and stood where they were standing, I guess…yes."
While Fromy is thankful that she and her baby are today alive because they
stayed on the bus, as St. Matthew's Villagers gathered at the scene of the accident looking as police officers placed the 5 bodies into pickup trucks for transportation to the Belmopan and Belize city morgues. Little did they know one of their own was also a victim. It was not until the final body was being prepared for transportation that one of the villagers asked to see who it was that the body was identified as that of 15-year-old Hedras Noel Larios. He had gone to Belmopan on an errand and was returning when tragedy struck.
Villager,
"His mom lives at the shop near the school, by the school down here, St. Mathews. his name is Hedras."
Alfonso Noble,
How do you know him?
Villager,
"I am in the PTA and I usually have contact with them down by the school."
Alfonso Noble,
You're surprise to see them here?
Villager,
"Yes we came here from the accident happened and I didn't recognize, I didn't go up close to see the face."
After the identification by villagers, Larios' mother arrived and as she looked at the scene there was only one thing she resented.
Mother of Victim,
"Nobody told me." [Sobbing.]
But for this mother even early information would not have made the loss of a loved one any easier as it cannot be for the families of the 4 others killed in this accident.
Killed in the accident along with Hedras Larios were Belizean nurse Isabella Flores, her son 14-year-old Devon Flores, 15 year old Duncan Melvin Smith and 38 year old Celestia Guy. All of them were outside the bus. Injured were doctor Carlos Correa Hernandez and nurse Dayamis Guerra who were traveling in the pickup truck. They are being treated at the Belmopan Hospital. The bus driver 46-year-old Herman Williams received minor injuries while 15-year-old Francis Flores is being treated at the KHMH for an injury to his right leg.
