Email

Print

In that time, two coast guard vessels stationed at Crooked Tree have made well over a thousand runs across the lagoon, ferrying residents back and forth from before dawn until after dark. And just as the rains had slowed down, and their time was coming to an end, this morning, disaster struck in the Lagoon. Jules Vasquez has the story of what happened, plus the prognosis for what's next:..

Jules Vasquez reporting
When we arrived on the causeway just after 8:00 am - this ambulance was heading out slowly - the child inside had a back injury, while this pickup truck was being used as an ambulance to take away one of the 9 injured school children.

Another ambulance had broken down on the Causeway while another child was being carried to a waiting vehicle

Lieutenant Commander Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard
"So far we can confirm that one person is dead and we have medically nine into Belize City via ambulance."

Antoinette Tillett, Community Nurse
"We have one back injury. Some got scrapes and cuts. I haven't seen some of them because when I got out here some of them had already left to go to Belize in another vehicle."

20 year old villager Ben Gentle meanwhile was dead, he lay dead in the boat while EMT's prepared his body to be taken to the Belize City morgue. And while they had his body in the larger vessel, a 38 footer, he was in the smaller one, an 18 footer when he was killed.

The Coast Guard says it was an accident:

Lieutenant Commander Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard
"The two vessels were out on operations and one vessel approached the other and apparently there was a mechanical malfunction somewhere; instead of going into reverse to slow the vessel the vessel gears malfunction and jumped into the other one thereby causing the collision."

"I am sure they were aware of each other, they were approaching each other. Apparently there was a transaction that should have occurred between the two vessels, so they were aware of each other presence. It was during the approach, it wasn't an issue of poor lighting."

Jules Vasquez
"Are you all certain it was mechanical error and not a pilot error?"

Lieutenant Commander Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard
"At this stage the incident happened a couple hours ago and that's the initial investigation. What we will do is do a proper marine casualty investigation which will comprise of not only the Coast Guard but the police and a team from the Belize Port Authority."

But there are differing accounts - this young lady saw her injured classmates coming off the boat.

Voice of: Elma Wade, Saw Injured Students
"Some of them had bad injuries. My bus driver went to see what had happen. The people in the boat told us what happen because they were in the boat. They say that they were going and the coast guard was in the big boat. They told the people that he was alone in the boat and he was driving and no one else was at the front and the bus was going and the high and because of that you can't see. The little boat went aside adrift to avoid an accident with the big boat. The big boat did see. The big boat ran on the edge of the small boat and the propeller cut a boy on the side. One of my friends her feet got cut another person knee came out of place, a little girl got hit on her head - a lot of little injuries."

Reporter
"It was bloody?"

Voice of: Elma Wade, Saw Injured Students
"Yes, there was blood everywhere."

Gabriel Mejia, Sr's son received major injuries - and saw up close what happened:

Gabriel Mejia, Sr.
"He was in front of the guy who died."

Jules Vasquez
"Did he see what happen to Ben Junior?"

Gabriel Mejia, Sr.
"Yeah he saw, he even saw the boat coming, but he didn't believe - because those boats come close to one another and just cut away. He said this morning he didn't see this happen. He said he saw the boat coming on top of them and he manage to try and hide, but when he got up he slipped down and both feet was in the air instead of his body or else his feet wouldn't have gotten cut, his body would have get it. He got hit at the back of his head and also on his back. His knee is dug out and he has a big cut. At this time he is in the theatre right now."

The coast guard says that the vessels should not have been in such close proximity on the open water. Seeing them here, the hulking 38 footer with two 250 horsepower engines had no passengers and the miniscule 18 footer which had the passengers - you can understand the damage to the 18 footer and its passengers, which was still able to power back to the shore:

But that's hardly any consolation for the parents of the deceased and injured children.

Ben Gentle Sr., Father of Deceased
"That shouldn't happen. These are government officials that we put faith into. I don't know what they called it; trauma, unbelief, disbelief - I really disbelieve that this actually happen because to send the coast guard to assist in a flood situation, by right we should all feel safe, right. This is our point; we work hard to pay taxes to train people to do certain jobs. The last thing I expected to hear today was that my son died in a coast guard boat."

Gabriel Mejia, Sr.
"I know the coast guard is doing a very good job, but that's a bit careless. I could have lost my son too. It's so sad that this happen and its people that's helping us. You don't know what to do."

Ben Gentle Sr., Father of Deceased
"I am not out for revenge, I am out for an answer and the answer should be why should our coast guard crash."

Lieutenant Commander Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard
"One of the things I found strange is that the two vessels approaching each other and not at the dock, not at the drop off point. It was somewhere along the route. That in itself is not our standing operating procedures. So we will look at that in particular to find out why the two captains found need to get alongside each other to do whatever transaction they were conducting."

"Something went wrong that cause the accident to happen. We did something that we should not have done at some point to cause that accident to happen and that is what we will find out during the investigation."

But today in Crooked Tree all anyone wanted to find out is how their loved ones were doing. Almost everyone in this intimate village is related and today everyone was on the phone or in muted stunned disbelief, some with wiping away tears, red eyes everywhere.

Reporter
"Do you think that these students will need some sort of therapy; the ones that were on the boat?"

Antoinette Tillett, Community Nurse
"Definitely they will need that because some of them are just crying and shaking and they were asking about the other little boy whose back had a big cut."

Reporter
"I know that most of the people out here are dramatized. What's next?"

Darrell Tillett, Chairman - Crooked Tree Village
"It's really hard, everybody is traumatized especially the students who really are hit hard with this. All of them went back home. I think the people from education department will come here today to counsel with the students."

Part of the reason for the disbelief and the shock is that for more than 90 days they've been using these boats as their connection to the mainland. The boats move 300 to 500 persons daily from 4:30 and 7:30 pm - and now just as the water on the causeway was running off and it is soon to become passable, this happens:

Darrell Tillett, Chairman - Crooked Tree Village
"The guys do a wonderful and there is nothing bad anyone could say about the coast guard. Those guys are on top of their and they really do a good job."

Hon. Edmund Csatro, Area Representative
"I think it's approximately some 90 days that those guys are out here working without any hitch or any accident. So we will have to examine and see what took place and what caused the accident. It's a sad day for us here in Crooked Tree and in the Belize Rural North area because all of us are connected somehow through families."

Steve Anthony, Crooked Tree resident
"Over 3 months we've had runs. They went above and beyond what they are supposed to be doing. They make up to 20 runs per day for people stranded on this side. As far as I heard they were supposed to be leaving next week and we were planning a little get together for them as a thank you, today. This happening today is sad."

Antoinette Tillett, Community Nurse
"I feel, because I've been praying and thank God for the protection over that lagoon and this to happen now - it's so hard."

Hardest for the father of the deceased 20 year old. Ben Sr. was on his way up to Crooked Tree when he learned his son had been killed:

Ben Gentle Sr., Father of Deceased
"When they called me I immediately got off the bus and the only thing I could do was sit-down at the Belcan Bridge and cry because I never expected anything to happen to this son. I am not saying things don't happen to people, things do happen. But you know when you talk your kids and you tell them do this, do that and they follow the rules - I am at a loss for words now because he followed as much as I can say I told him to do - he followed me. For 2 hours I cried. Right now I want to cry but it's like there is no tears left, they all just fell out."

"From what I see on my son's body, he has all abrasions up on his right side from his pelvis up to his shoulder and abrasions in his head and his body is badly bruised like he been rolled and cut up like a slab of meat because there are very deep incisions in his back."

And what that very traumatic memory, what next? Well, the villagers have to continue to use the boats for at least another two weeks

Steve Anthony, Crooked Tree resident
"I will have no problem taking the boat tomorrow because this was an accident, we've been doing this for a long time - nothing happened."

Jules Vasquez
"The cause-way, how far is it away from being accessible?"

Darrell Tillett, Chairman - Crooked Tree Village
"In the next 2-3 weeks I would say because there is more than a foot of water still on the road."

Jules Vasquez
"So now you all will have to continue on the boats?"

Darrell Tillett, Chairman - Crooked Tree Village
"Yes we have to. There is no if about that because the water is deep."

Jules Vasquez
"You've made your initial assessment. What are your conclusions at this time first about the assistance that will be needed and second about continuing the mode of transfer - we know the cause-way is marginally passable, perhaps some heavy transport could be arranged."

Hon. Edmund Castro, Area Representative
"Basically what we will do, Ministry of Works engineers will come out here and do the assessment to make sure that we don't have any gap in the approach for the bridge; the two bridges on the cause-way and then see how soon we could get commuting of the bigger busses to go back and forth and move people. However we still have approximately some 15-17 inches on water on the cause-way."

And while that work should start soon, the villagers are fed up:

Steve Anthony, Crooked Tree resident
"It's a big price to pay to get a road. I hope that we will get a road after this."

Arlene Tillett, Crooked Tree Resident
"It's right on the end of using to the boats and we are so traumatized. We are crying out to the Prime Ministet to fix our road please."

Steve Anthony, Crooked Tree resident
"What we need to work on more is this road. The amount of money that these last two floods took could fix this road. Like I said we appreciate all the help we get, but an ounce on prevention is better than a pound of cure and the prevention for us would be fixing the road. We need to raise the road and we need to put a bridge and all that would help. But besides that for now we are going to have to pull together as a village, we are going to have to help the family and make sure that something like this doesn't happen again."

"If the road isn't started when this water goes down, we would be making a trip to Belmopan because we can't have this happening again."

Preliminarily, the clearest explanation of what happened is the 38 foot vessel launched into and over the 18 foot Sarita, and in the process one of its massive engine blades chopped up the passengers inside the smaller boat. Again, that is preliminary based on what we pieced together from multiple accounts, but as was noted in the story, there will be a full investigation.

There's more ahead from this story - as the community had some tough talk for Area Representative Edmund Castro. We'll have that later on.