A man was knocked down and killed this afternoon on the Northern Highway. He is 21 year old Honduran national Merlin Calderon Portillo and he was knocked down and killed by a 17 year old driver. His death is made more tragic by the fact that Portillo was planning to return home to Honduras this weekend. We were on the accident scene.
Keith Swift Reporting,
It was a terrible scene at mile 3 and a half this afternoon with Merlin Calderon Portillo’s body in the middle of the highway, pieces of his bicycle scattered along the side of the road, and then there was one foot of his slippers next to the broken rear view mirror of this Nissan Xterrra. The rear view mirror was broken off when the Nissan Xterra, driven by a 17 year old minor knocked down Portillo who was standing on the roadside.
Nigel Matus, Knows Deceased
“He is one of my workers and he was coming from work and he told his brother to wait outside here on the side of the road while he went to leave
his daughter. When he came out he just saw this car just knock his brother down.”
Keith Swift,
“So he was standing on the side of the road?”
Nigel Matus,
“Yes he was on the shoulder of the road waiting on his brother.”
And that is where he was hit and flung into the air.
Nigel Matus,
“He took him from here to there, I don’t know how many feet that is, 50 feet – 60 feet they said.”
Monica Bodden, Love News
“And he died on the spot?”
Nigel Matus,
“Yes.”
Speeding is a problem on this stretch of the northern highway but it is unclear if it was a factor in today’s accident. One possible factor according to witnesses might have been alcohol. Their suspicion is based on this icebox which was taken out of the Xterra and placed in the pan of the police mobile. Musa’s family says the icebox didn’t contain beers.
Keith Swift,
“The family of this guy is alleging that alcohol was involved and that
they son had an icebox back there with beer.”
Billy Musa Jr., Father of Driver
“No that is not true.”
Dian Musa, Mother of Driver
“No it is not true. He does have a cooler in there but it empties that he keeps.”
But a young man is dead and for the driver’s family, that is the tragedy.
Dian Musa, Mother of Driver
“The only thing we would like to say is that we are sorry, there is a….we are sorry.”
Billy Musa Jr.,
“We would just like to say that we are very sorry for what happened. There is a deceased and we know how it feels, we wouldn’t want to leave a family either and we are going to do whatever it takes to assist the family. That is all we would like to say.”
The 17 year old minor has a driver’s license and what he told police differs greatly from what the eyewitnesses on the scene told us. He told police that he was driving towards Belize City when Portillo and another man riding in the same direction made an unexpected left turn. The driver says that is when Portillo collided into the right side view mirror and right front fender of the Nissan Xterra.
The 17 year old – who is a college student - was initially detained but has been released and served with a notice of intended prosecution.
