It's not often that Belize witnesses a mass casualty event but Saturday's incomprehensible accident has left the entire country in shock and mourning. Thousands of eyes were glued to their screens that night, watching as flames engulfed a vehicle with nine people inside. Meanwhile, a 10th victim was was lying on the street.
It wouldn't be until hours after the accident that the relatives would realize that it was their loved ones, who'd gone on a trip to Melchor, who were in the vehicle.
Courtney Menzies went west to speak with five families of seven of the victims. Here is that story.
These candles memorialize the ten lives that were lost in a single accident - the largest mass casualty that Belize has seen. Nine victims were crammed into a Toyota Corolla which flipped and burst into flames after it collided head on with a Ford Explorer. A motorcycle, which was trailing behind, was unable to stop and crashed into the Explorer, killing the driver on impact.
The families of the 9 Corolla passengers all have the same questions - how did this happen, and why did all of them try to fit into a such a small vehicle?
Well, it started with a trip across the border to Melchor. 21 year old Genesis (Ruduel) Parham made a couple of trips - first with his wife then with his sister in law, 22 year old Aimee Hernandez.
Emmanuel Manzanero, Uncle of Genesis Parham
"In the morning, Genesis came and he told me that he is going to the border and if I could accompany him. I told him that I am busy today, go, do what you gotta do and I'll see you later, I said. Yes, uncle, by 2:00 I should be here because I need to bring my wife, she's going to work. Okay then, sounds good, I'll see you later, not knowing that was going to be our last time I was going to see my nephew. He went to the border, came back, dropped off his wife, and then it seems he went back and when he went back he picked up his sister in law."
"When they came back, how those other persons got in his vehicle, we're not certain. What we do know is that it was only two of them that were supposed to be coming but we were told that when he was leaving the border, these group of people approached him and I guess it was for a ride that they wanted."
The other victims - 29 year old Abigail Bradley, 24 year old Keilin Pinelo, 19 year old Jaheim Iglesias, 30 year old Shailer Lopez, 21 year old Dennis Williams, and 30 year old Jasmin Rodriguez - were all employees at RCC BPO in San Ignacio. Rodriguez also took her 4 year old daughter, Jazelle, for the trip. They had planned to do some shopping in Melchor - which isn't something they did often, according to their families. For Iglesias, it was the first time he was hanging out with his coworkers.
Mitsy Iglesias, Sister of Jaheim Iglesias
"He was excited because they were going to go Christmas shopping so that was the reason why he went over there."
Courtney Menzies:
"He went with his friends?"
Mitsy Iglesias, Sister of Jaheim Iglesias
"His coworkers."
"I guess it was like the desperation to get home and what I got to put together, there was like nobody else there to bring them, no other taxi, so I guess the desperation of wanting to get home, everyone just sardine in a car because based on my experience, I did that before when I was high school with my friends, one car fit about ten people. I did that, so I guess that was a choice that cost them their lives I would say."
"Jaheim, I always describe him as an adventurous spirit. He loves to go hiking, he loves nature. He did part time for summer, he went to those archeological sites, he went digging, so he was much of an outgoing person. So he was very adventurous."
"Jaheim, he was a jokester, so he was always the funny one, he was always roasting me and my parents, and that's going to be something that we need to navigate life now without him."
While he was one of the youngest in the vehicle, his coworker, 30 year old Jasmin Rodriguez, was the only one flung from the car and survived just long enough to get to the hospital. Her daughter died instantly, however, pulled out of the vehicle by her own uncle.
Delfina Rodriguez, Mother of Jasmine Rodriguez
"Her little girl perished but she did not. She was still alive when he took her to the hospital."
"Doctor couldn't do anything about it, she already couldn't breathe. The doctor tried to save her but he couldn't."
"It's hard to lose a family member. It's really hard. She left her two kids, Aron and Jayden."
"Aron always asking us when mama will come back home. He thinks she's still at the hospital waiting for her to come. I explained to him already but he doesn't understand. He think that she will be home."
"Jasmine was, I would say, she was a very good daughter. She would spoil me in everything I want. Mom what you need, mom what you want, she would try to get it for me. I couldn't say that she was a bad daughter. And the kids, she would go all out for her kids. She would make sure they have everything. She's a single mother so she will make sure she have everything for them. She loved her kids."
"That little girl, she was a spoiled little girl. She would always be happy and loving. Every minute she would come and say I love you grandma."
Bradley and Pinelo were cousins and like the other families, their relatives were watching the aftermath of the accident unfold on social media, without knowing their loved ones were in the vehicle.
Courtney Menzies:
"So when you saw that there was an accident, how long after that did you realize your relatives were in there?"
Rosalba Pinelo, Aunt of Keilin Pinelo, Cousin of Abigail Bradley
"Like two hours after. It was like around 10 I saw it on Facebook, the blazing fire and everything, but it didn't even cross my mind that it was my niece or my cousin in that fire burning."
"Both are just fun, they like to have their fun, enjoy, they are friendly girls. They're respectable to anyone out there, they have never been in any trouble with anybody, they're always like, hi, how are you doing. They're fun people, they were just living their life as best as they can on earth. Something that we wouldn't have expected or a bad news we would have gotten from them."
"We don't know how they all fit in that vehicle, we have no idea how they all end up in that vehicle. Because if my niece, when she's out, she would call my little brother and say, uncle come for me, I need a ride home. He would go for her no matter where she is, he will go for her. So that day when she came with them, it was a surprise that she didn't call and ask for a ride. It's very hurtful, that's why my brother said it hurt him because she always calls him and say, uncle, please pick me up. So it was very hard for us to experience that, that tragedy for them to come and tell us that she was in that fire."
And like the rest of these families, Lopez's father said that Christmas spirit died in the accident as well.
Rigoberto Parades, Father of Shailer Lopez
"I was waiting on her the night for her to come home, so when I got that news, I just lied there and thought about something, you know. She's a nice person, loving person. She doesn't like a lot of friends, she's a nice person."
"The whole family can't take it. Everybody as they look at the picture on the phone, they start crying. We don't have any more Christmas for this year. We're having our Christmas in the funeral home right now."
And for those relatives who were on the scene, it's not a sight they will ever forget.
Emmanuel Manzanero, Uncle of Genesis Parham
"When that happened, I had blanked out, seeing this unbelievable scene and they were four bodies out of the vehicle at the moment and it was flipped, mashed, so I said it has to be one of, I thought it was only them."
"Next thing you know, apart from the four bodies that we saw, next thing they took out another body, that was the fifth. Moments going on, it totaled to 10 bodies."
"I don't think he knew them, probably they met when they were coming out but what we do know is that he was only accompanied by his sister in law and I guess they needed a lift at that time in the night and knowing Genesis, that kind guy, he probably said, everyone let's hop in, let's go home and who knew."
"What's amazing about this tragic accident is that the vehicle got burnt, they got burnt. And he was someone that loves to wear hats. He had a hat that spoke about respect, it has the palm with a rosary, signifying God's presence. Everything got burnt except that hat."
And that will be one of the only possessions that Parham's one year old daughter will have to remember him.
Rodriguez's sons are 7 and 10.
Two of the passengers who were in the Ford Explorer are currently hospitalized.
