At 3:30 yesterday afternoon a Mennonite couple, Enrique and Helene Petkau were killed in an accident between miles 26 and 27 on the Northern Highway. It was a head on collision and the trauma was massive: both husband and wife died on the spot. And while the fatality is a terrible tragedy, put in the context of the Petkau family’s past misfortunes, it appears to be almost the continuation of a curse. Keith Swift found out more.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Yesterday afternoon Enrique Petkau and his wife Halina were instantly killed - crushed inside their Kia Sportage when this Courts delivery truck crashed head on into them at mile 24 and a half on the Northern Highway. The impact
was devastating and it smashed the light SUV as one would a tin can. The bodies were trapped inside the crushed Kia Sportage for more than an hour and it required the combined efforts of police and fire personnel to remove them.
John Petkau, Son of Deceased
“The truck came in the wrong direction around a corner and then my parents came from the front, probably quite a bit fast, and it looked like my parents tried to escape to the wrong side as well, because the truck was on their side, and the truck also turned to that side and then right there they headed in the middle of the road.”
Keith Swift,
John did they have a chance of surviving that accident, was there any chance they could have survived?
John Petkau,
“There was absolutely no chance. I have never ever in my life seen a terrible accident like this.”
It is pain John Petkau knows all too well – that is the pain of losing a parent. 5 years ago his mother Susanna Petkau was killed and his father Enrique was critically wounded when armed thugs invaded the family’s home in Shipyard Village.
After the incident Enrique left Belize and married Halina. He returned to Belize and yesterday tragedy struck the family again. Indeed fate has been cruel to the Petkau family.
John Petkau,
“It hurts very much. I just told the police officer that I feel like it is just a continuation of that. Its five days ago now that they got kidnapped and both of them were shot. My mom died and my dad he survived barely and now I just feel it is a continuation of that. I don’t feel any space in between, it is just…”
Keith Swift,
Do you think somebody should be arrested?
John Petkau,
“We are not too clear about that yet. I am not too sure.”
The driver of the Courts truck has been identified as 44 year old Elias Torres of Chan Pine Ridge. He is not a Courts employee and was contracted privately. Police have not indicated if he will be charged for causing the collision. It is a matter of some concern to the family because in the previous tragedy, in which Enrique Petkau was seriously injured and his previous wife was murdered, the accused killers got off when their case went to trial.
