Georgeville village in the Cayo District, it's on a quiet stretch of road on the George Price Highway that's only distinguishable by two churches and a line of Hollywood-esque Palm trees.
But tonight it's where we lay our scene as we bring you the tragic tale of a horrific and explosive road traffic accident involving a Stepfather and his sons.
It happened on Friday night just after 8:00 when Lionel Chavarria was returning home after dropping off his son's girlfriend.
That's when he and his sons spotted his uncle on the side of the road and pulled off to chat with him. Little could they know that that decision would cost at least two of them their lives. Cherisse Halsall reports.
It was a commonplace bus trip home from Belize City for Hubert Pandy on Friday night, a normal ride that took a turn when the contents of his conductor's money bag got blown out of the window.
That happened at about ½ a mile from his house but once he'd gotten home he wasted no time in jumping on his bike and riding back out in search of the cash.
Hubert Pandy, Uncle of the Deceased
"I came back and I got here I'm looking for the money that the conductor dropped after, and the same time i'm looking for the money, my nephew came right on the road side, left on the hazard and I had my hands like that talking to him,I told him bwoy, and he asked me what I was looking for and I told him a little money. And I was about a foot away and then a vehicle just came and slammed into the wire fence making the car spin in the air and then after that you heard the gas tank go boom, explode."
It was an explosion that rattled Hubert Pandy. This morning he told me that he's still replaying those last moments with his nephew, having experienced first hand what it's like to be here one minute and gone the next.
Hubert Pandy, Uncle of the Deceased
"It's really rough mein you know to take away somebody's life. The man said that he didn't see him and he had on his hazard but he had a lot of beer, drinking, and I saw him throwing the beer and dusting off himself, he took the beers, you see a lone broken bottle. and I'm parking my bicycle. The policemen passed and just watched the policeman in a yellow vehicle just passed and watched like no sense, didn't even try to say you know see this man right there dying and what's not, assist mein. You know that's love."
"I'm Chabo uncle mein and I'm very very hurt because I'm saying one foot away. If I had my head still in there it would have taken me too, you know the man said dust off, If you're alright? You dig, if you alright, mein, how would I be alright?"
"It's really rough mein you know it baxxed them away, I would say, at least 200 yards from the vehicle where the road where I was to the location that I'm talking about right now, you know, the big tree is what stopped him. Because if that big tree hadn't stopped him he would have taken a lick more down so.The vehicle flip but the vehicle was flipping and it stopped you heard booh, the gas tank just blew up you see dust and I said Damn I said you dead, when I went there big bwoy was just breathing, can't make it any more."
Unfortunately, Pandy's suspicions were right, his nephew was dead. But Lionel had been traveling with two passengers, his stepsons Charles and Ian. Ian who was seated in the passenger's seat miraculously survived, Charles wasn't so lucky.
ACP Joseph Myvette
"What the police know so far is that the F-150 pickup was being driven by one Mario Aldana 39-years of a San Ignacio town address and he was traveling from an east to west direction and he overtook the vehicle which caused him to collide head on into the vehicle, the other vehicle driven at the time by Lionel Chavarria at the time he was accompanied by Charles Jones and one Ian Staine. Lionel Chavarria apparently died on the spot whilst Charles Jones and Ian Staine were taken to the San Ignacio Community hospital where Charles Jones succumbed to the injuries while undergoing surgery. So far police have levied charges against Mario Aldana for two counts of manslaughter by negligence, two counts of causing death by careless conduct, one count of negligent wounding, driving without due care and attention, driving without a driver's permit, and failing to provide a specimen. He will be appearing in court later today."
And while that's a bevy of charges there's no consoling the family of these men for this irreplaceable and simultaneous loss. That's what another uncle told us this morning:
Dennis Rowley, Brother and Uncle of the Deceased
"He's the breadwinner for his wife and his children's mommy, I don't know how this family will make it now without him."
"They are very hard-working people, my nephew Charles me and him do construction. Chabo, the driver of the car, he is a taxi driver, he drove taxi from here to Cayo up and down every day."
"Charles is a little young bwoy 23 years old, he's just coming up but from small his mother trained him to work and things like that, growing up he was strong we do all kind of --- work and construction work and stuff like that but the same way I still can't believe it and I will miss him because he and I work together."
"You just have to take it one day at a time with Jehovah's blessings, just try move on, I'm just here trying to give support to my family, I haven't slept in two days. You know I'm up here with my cousin because she keeps crying, the wife, the mother. She lost her husband and her son, and almost lost three of them."
As you heard, Mario Aldana, the driver of the F-150 has been charged with two counts of manslaughter by negligence, two counts of causing death by careless conduct, one count of negligent wounding, driving without due care and attention, driving without a driver's permit, and failing to provide a specimen.
