And while the unions spent this Easter holiday negotiating, several families are still in mourning after losing their loved ones over the long Easter Weekend. There were 5 traumatic deaths in total over the past few days - from murder, to road traffic accidents, and even to a freak accident.
That's where we begin, with a brave young boy who was crushed to death while trying to save his mother. It happened on Saturday in the Corozal District and while his mother survived the freak accident, she now has to plan a funeral for her only son. Our colleagues at CTV3 visited their home, and Courtney Menzies has this story.
A mother is in the hospital and her 11-year-old son is dead after they were crushed under a concrete wall in San Narciso.
According to their family, the mother, 30-year-old Norelli Marin and her son were lying in a hammock attached to the wall when it came crumbling down.
The brave boy, Jamir Marin, jumped to his mother's rescue, but lost his life in the process.
Euphemia Cawich, Family Member
(TRANSLATED) "I reach here with my cousin at 3:20 on Saturday evening. Ten to fifteen minutes after I reach, I was inside, we heard the noise and we came out running. When I came out running, I saw the wall was already on top of the boy. Then the mother was on the floor with a piece of the wall on her foot. Before that, I saw the boy was playing football. Then he saw that the wall was falling so he ran to help his mother but he couldn't sustain it and everything fell on top of him."
"He was still alive but he was reacting slowly. Then a man came and took him to the hospital. Meanwhile the mother was sitting down, she didn't scream, she didn't say anything, she went into a panic, holding herself on to the hammock. Then her partner came and took the boy to the hospital. I tried to save the boy. Reaching by Concepcion, he passed away."
According to the police, the freak accident was caused by the unfinished building being unable to support the weight of the mother and son.
ACP Joseph Myvette, Head NCIB
"Looking at the scene the walls are not supported by any concrete posts or column as the building was still under construction."
But the family is not the only ones mourning young Jamir, since, according to his cousin, he was an incredibly hardworking boy who made friends wherever he went. And now those friends are assisting their family.
Voice of: Daniel Marin, Cousin of Deceased
"What I could say about him, he is a hard working boy. He likes construction, he like cast. The last he did he rode from San Roman to Cristo Rey to do a cast and with that money he bought a cake for his mother for her birthday. Lots of people are coming with help, I think that the whole San Roman Village and San Narciso is putting a little hand for this and they are bringing help from the US. People who actually knew the little boy, they sent help from Caye Caulker. A lof of people knew the little boy because he was a brave boy."
But Cawich says his mother is still in need of blood donors, since her first operation was not a success and needs to undergo another due to the seriousness of her leg injury.
