Tonight the BDF is collectively mourning the loss of an outstanding, pioneering soldier - while a family grieves the loss of a mother, and a provider.
Lance Corporal Roxannie Goff Hill was killed in a high impact vehicle collision on the George Price Highway last night around 6:40.
And while only one died, it's a double tragedy because Lance Corporal Hill was coming from a funeral for another soldier - when tragedy struck:
The funeral of 23-year-old suicide victim Micah Moguel was unspeakably sad. The loss of such a young life under very questionable circumstances…and then for a group of 9 of Private Micah's fellow soldiers returning from her funeral yesterday, loss was compounded by tragedy.
Roxannie Goff a soldier and mother of two children, was in the front seat of this BDF van when between miles 42 and 43, a Toyota Four-Runner lurched into the lane of oncoming traffic and collided into front of the BDF Transit van.
The scene was literally like a war zone. It looked like something had explode,d but really it was just two vehicles at highway speeds in a full-on collision.
Lieutenant Colonel Burns, Acting Chief Of Staff
"Last evening unfortunately while returning from the funeral of private Micah, one of our vehicles transporting members of the band and a few others got into a head. on collision with another vehicle just outside of Belmopan approximately 10 minutes outside of Belmopan. And unfortunately, there was. the passing of one of our female soldiers Lance Corporal Roxanne Gough, Gough Hill. She's married Hill. The bus had in a total of 11 passengers as it was a passenger van. The preliminary inquiry. into what happend while those details are fairly separated right now. I can say that the driver was on his side of the road and there was another vehicle coming in the other direction that attempted to move away from a bus that apparently swerved into the road. That appeared to be in a parked position and that vehicle swerved onto the lane of the incoming BDF van and it was hit at high speed. And, the driver of the BDF van tried to avoid the incident as he saw it coming but he was hit so hard that the van rolled over a few times. The death of private Gough was on site."
Off-camera today Burns told us that Hill who had demonstrated particularly bravery during her time on the force was one of the first women to female soldiers to take up the challenge of flight training.
Her death, coming in the wake of that of Private Micah is a particularly difficult blow to the ranks of Belize's female soldiers.
Lieutenant Colonel Burns, Acting Chief Of Staff
"You can imagine that the females on the force are very distraught, the ministry is very distraught from this incident we were only just burying one of our own, private Micah and in returning from the funeral we were involved in an incident of this sort. It leaves me at a loss of words but the ministry and members of the BDF, all our different officers and soldiers all express our deepest sympathies and with. families of both Micah and Lance Corporal in this very unfortunate incident. If there was anything we could do to take back the hands of time we would. We just couldn't see this one coming to us."
Police say the accident was caused when a bus traveling towards Belmopan, and trailed by a Toyota Four Runner attempted to make a left turn. It seems the bus driver changed his mind when he saw the oncoming BDF Transit bus, and pulled back into his lane. But, that made the driver of the Four Runner have to take an evasive maneuver to not rear end the bus, she swerved into the lane of oncoming traffic and crashed into the BDF transit bus.
As you heard, 10 soldiers were on board - and the van was driven by Lance Corporal Danderson. While Lance Corporal Roxannie Goff was killed on the spot, the 9 other soldiers received various degrees of injuries to their bodies.
