There was a fatal accident on the western highway last night. It happened just after nine at mile twenty-five in very wet road conditions – on a stretch of road that is known to be slippery. A well known taxi driver was killed and two men are left shaken with minor injuries.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
This crushed and compressed front end of the green Astro Van showed how forceful the collision with this white delivery van. The truck was also damaged. And though we found it on the road this morning, when the accident happened the impact was so great that it flipped the bigger vehicle on its side that forced the Western Highway by mile twenty five to be closed. But the real tragedy is
the death of forty year old Staford Burgess, the owner and driver of the Astro van. It is believed he died on impact and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Veronica Kerr, Mother of Deceased
“I am a God fearing person and when I got the news, I realized that the only way I can cope with this is by turning to Jesus because he is the only one who could give me strength and that is what I did. I got on my knees and asked God to give me the strength to take me through this because it is not the first son, it is the second son.”
Staford Burgess was a well known tour guide, cab driver and member of the Radisson Taxi Union.
Daniel Itza, President - Radisson Taxi Union
“We are a team player out here. He is a very easygoing person. He makes a lot of jokes with the guys out here, always playing. It was a shock to us. We know he travels on the road a lot and we are like family out here and so we will really miss our co-worker.”
There are no witnesses to the accident only the driver of the delivery van
Herman Blatz and his side man Saul Santos. Police have yet to interview both survivors therefore are unable to report what caused the accident.
Daniel Itza,
“He at times tend to leave late hours of the night and go up to Mahogany Heights where he recently got a house, a government house, and he goes and look after it. I received the phone call sometime after 9:30 last night and I left for the hospital to check but there was no one there at the time, the police hadn’t arrived as yet until this morning I understand, I confirmed what happened.”
Preliminary investigations reveal that Blatz and Santos were heading east and Burgess was heading west. It is not known if wet conditions contributed to the accident or if any of the drivers are responsible.
Veronica Kerr,
“I would like to tell all of the family, everybody, just hold on to Jesus and ask him for strength and we will all get through it together.”
Up until the time of his sudden and tragic passing Staford Burgess worked for the past three years at the Radisson Taxi Stand. Jacqueline Godwin reporting for 7NEWS.
According to Stafford Burgess’s family, he had done a tour earlier that day and was believed to have been returning home when the crash occurred – although the police have concluded that he was heading west. He was a resident of the mile eight community on the Western Highway. Herman Blatz who remains hospitalized at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital declined to be interviewed and we understand that Saul Santos has since been treated and discharged from the KHMH. The pair who are from Shipyard in Orange Walk were returning from a dairy delivery trip in the south.
At the crash site police took their standard measurements to establish if speeding may have been a factor, but the police told 7NEWS that due to the rain and poor lighting conditions it was difficult for them to locate any skid marks.
