Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
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.
And, first responders to the scene encountered something that nothing could prepare them for - the extraction of 10 bodies from a mangled and burned. mountain of wreckage. Here's what it looked like on the ground:
This is the fiery scene fire department encountered at mile 68 at 10:00 on Saturday night.
Under the shrill wail of sirens - more than a dozen firemen from multiple stations responded.
Kenneth Mortis, Belize National Fire Service "Between the Twin Towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio they dispatched they both dispatched a fire truck and two ambulances we had an ambulance from the Spanish lookout community and the San Ignacio Community hospital there they also dispatched an ambulance. We had off duty personnels both from The Spanish lookout community in terms of fire fighters we had the entire Cayo crew fire fighters off duty that responded I would say easily we had an approximate 20-25 emergency responding personnel's on that scene trying to assist in whichever way they possibly can whether it was fire fighting and then of course once the blaze was extinguished that's when we went into body extrication mode then we load them up on whatever means of transport I believe it was the ambulance and they were taken to the nearest medical facility which would have then been the San Ignacio Community hospital."
First they had to bring the fire under control which they managed to do within minutes.
Desperate relatives arrived at the scene rushing to hopefully find someone alive. While the fire crews were trying to figure out how to get the survivors or the bodies out from this mountain of wreckage.
Kenneth Mortis, Belize National Fire Service "It was something that I do not wish to encounter no time soon. A small car was fully engulfed in flames as you have already seen on social media and what have you. So all we could have done was extinguishing the fire without contributing too much to disperse or dispel what we later learnt were the bodies that were trapped in this particular vehicle once that was done we tried our best to conduct an investigation as to what really went down? What really happened what really contributed to this fiasco on that uneventful evening. Information still forth coming from both the fire department out west and the police department as we have still not directly ascertained what contributed to that to that accident Saturday night."
The red glow of the sirens continued for hours as fire teams tried to use the jaws of life to get bodies out of the heap of wreckage.
Mayor Earl Trapp was shaken by what he saw:
Earl Trapp, Mayor of Santa Elena San Ignacio "But upon me reaching at this site honestly it was heart wrenching to see so many bodies burnt in one vehicle you know and I can tell you when the fire department along with the police were jacking the vehicle and took out four bodies honestly when I saw one baby that was like four years. I broke into tears it was sad and there was still like four more bodies in the vehicle and that when I called out back how operator to come and assist and to raise the vehicle and to clear the highway and I am really grateful for him for responding and he was here in like 20 mins and I thank my staff for responding whenever we call upon them but it was heart wrenching it is still heart wrenching."
For those first responders, removing body after body at a mass casualty event, the toll was enormous:
Kenneth Mortis, Belize National Fire Service "We do have this program offered to our guys courtesy of the government of Belize and ministry of public service. Apart from that then we can only lean on ourselves internally some of the more senior guys that have basically put in years in this job they can be a sort of comfort and mentor a tutor so to speak to the younger guys to help them get over this barrier I don't know how long it will take some of them to recover. We've had officers in the past that have experienced this type of situation from a residential structure and like I said we take measures if the need arises that they require more time off from home than that is expected then we will facilitate them with that."
And certainly for the fire department - it's the worst mass casualty event they have ever had to respond to.
While he was not on the scene, Kenneth Mortis from the Belize National Fire Service told us today that just from the bits and pieces of preliminary info his team gathered from the scene, the best estimate he could have made was that, none of the victims suffered a gruesome death, but instead due to the number of passengers in the car, some of them may have died before the fire consumed the vehicle.
Kenneth Mortis, Belize National Fire Service "When you look at 9 people in a small car such as a Corolla of that size I mean even now I am trying to fathom how can I fit 9 people in a car? Those types of cars max I can squeeze in would be 6 or 7 max but I'm looking at 9 so it would be hard to comment if they would have survived the accident had it not turned this way out?They would have definitely been squished I mean Creole has a phrase that says sardine in a tin so either way you look at it we would have had fatalities I'm not so sure if the entire 9 would have been that fire just played a devasting part in contributing to the accident. The autopsy I believe will definitely determine whether they died as a result of the impact and whether they died as a result of smoke and heat inhalation because of the magnitude that they were crushed together some of them just burnt to death you know. Being in this field of work I would want to but I'm not going to conclusively say that but I believe that most of them just died from smoke and heat inhalation and then the fire consumed the balance of the bodies."
Though nothing can be confirmed until the autopsy is conducted, Mortis says they are still gathering information as to what may have ignited the fire. He says it could be a number of things:
Kenneth Mortis, Belize National Fire Service "We know the impact we know what the impact is going to cause we realize that the flip of this vehicle is as a result of the impact however when you look at all these factors could we have had a loose fuel pump could we have had a loose fuel filter all those combine with a simple spark will definitely lead to a fire how long before this accident happened and how long between the accident happening and we receiving the call that's something that we cannot determine as yet because looking at where they are at we have and we are still publicizing our 990 hotline throughout the entire country of Belize who was the first passerby to observe this scene and which number did they call Versus like I said there are varying factors while all this is happening that spark will ignite a fire and then after that it's just a trail of fuel so to speak that leads directly to the fuel tank once that reaches its ignition phase you will have an explosion."
We have confirmed that the vehicle was not butane fueled.
The main news tonight has been about the unprecedented dectuple fatality - which left 5 women dead.
But traffic accidents also claimed the life of two other women in the week before.
Last week we reported on the fatal RTA that claimed the life of a Belmopan market stall food vendor Miriam Cordon. She died as a result of injuries she sustained in a collision that happened on December 2nd. And now a Coast guard Officer, Gianellie Vanegas has also succumbed to the injuries she received in a Motorcycle accident that occurred on November 30th. She had suffered major brain injury in the motorcycle accident. ACP Romero gave us more details today:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "In reference to the motor cycle accident involving Gianelle Vanegas she succumbed to her injuries on Saturday. And in reference to the fatal road traffic accident where Miriam Cordon succumbed to her injuries an investigation was carried out and Leroy Nunez of Dangriga has since been arrested and charged for the crimes of Manslaughter by negligence causing death by careless conduct drove motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit and drove motor vehicle without due care and attention."
And in another traffic fatality out at the Cayes another RTA involving a Golf Cart in San Pedro claimed the life of an American woman. It happened last Friday and tonight, the victim's husband has been charged. The pair were vacationing in Belize. ACP Romero gave us more details:
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "On Friday the 6th day of December 2024 police responded to a fatal accident on the Secret Beach Road in San Pedro. Upon the arrival they learned that a female had been taken for treatment. San Pedro Police visited the San Pedro Polyclinic where they found Jennifer Hernadez with injuries to the head and body there after she succumbed to her injuries. Investigations revealed that she was riding along with her boyfriend in a golf cart when the boyfriend drove and hit a bump causing her to fall off the golf cart causing her fatal injuries. An investigation was carried out and her boyfriend Jeremy Flores has since been arrested and charged for Reckless driving and drove without due care and attention causing death by careless conduct and failed to provide a specimen for analysis. It was suspected that he had been consuming alcoholic beverages."
And with all this mayhem on the roadways - who does the buck stop with? The police? Well, it's not really their job? Town and city administrators? Well, it's not their job either to enforce on highways. That would be the primary purview of the Transport Department. Under the road safety project they were given the tools and the vehicles to enforce effectively - so does the blame for lax enforcement fall to them?
We spoke with the Chief Transport Officer via zoom this evening:
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "It's sad and we're hoping that at some point we will be able to get a hold of what leads to this entire dynamic that we're facing in the country. It just continues to be challenging and we're hoping that at some point that we can get it under control."
Jules Vasquez "Was this a failure of enforcement?"
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "I wouldn't call it similar, well I would just say that it was a failure of enforcement but there are so many factors that played into that. The first thing that was wrong in my humble opinion was a decision that was made to have nine persons in a vehicle."
"Blowing past a checkpoint would have been an element that would be lack of resources and not necessarily a lack of enforcement. The level of enforcement was there and there was some evasion of that enforcement."
"What I see needs to happen is for us to take a proactive approach and that has been lacking. If they were coming from across the border, if that was where it initially oriented, we can only assume, because we don't know the fact that there must have been liquor involved. Hence the reason for trying to evade the checkpoint because obviously there would have been a level of enforcement there. We have been in dialogue with the police department across the country, not specifically just for Cayo, but for us to have a level of presence on the highway especially during this festive time."
Jules Vasquez "Yeah but you know I mean it's happening in real time."
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "It is."
Jules Vasquez "I'm saying that you're late."
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "Well we can't determine when an accident would happen."
Jules Vasquez "But we are in December. We're in December."
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "But we have been having these discussions Jules. It's not only discussions but they have been having patrols in urban and rural areas. they have been having checkpoints all over the country. I mean, we hear it almost every morning and every evening, Man, you guys are slowing us down to get home, because we want to ensure that there's a level of presence to deter persons from making decisions that are not in the best interest of safety."
Jules Vasquez "One of the knocks against the transport department is that you all don't like to do late checkpoints. You all want to do the latest checkpoint eight o'clock and we know that late at night is when people really start to get dangerous and on the road and drunk."
"Explain to me what is the expectation for your transport officers to do late night checkpoints?"
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "A part of our function is definitely to provide that level of support. What hinders us from having that level of checkpoints at night is the level of security. You might pull up to a checkpoint and there may be someone who is aggressive and that's the reason for collaborating with the police department and so we have been having some checkpoints all up until 10 o'clock 11 o'clock sometimes especially on the western corridor in that area."
Jules Vasquez "But for the avoidance of doubt it's your job it's the department of transport's job to ensure road safety as long as secondary duty of the police department. It's transport department's fundamental duty."
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "Agreed. Prior to the department of transport being formulated in 2003 you would know that the police department that was one of their goals as well, so it's a collaborative effort. While it's our primary function, we also have to not underscore the fact that general resources in terms of human capacity, in terms of mobility, in terms of access to the area and the spread, we have to increase that level of human resource in our department to be able to provide a 24-7 highway patrol element."
And what about the use of breathalysers? The Transport Department has been equipped with these for years, but area they in active use to test possibly drunk drivers?. So are they being used? Gentle says yes:
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "We've had the conviction, we have several convictions already Jules, so where we have employed those the most are for bus drivers through the terminals, as well as once we have checkpoints at night, we make sure that we have access to those breathalyzers, as well as the speed guns. Once there's a patrol, the patrol is equipped with both the speed guns and the breathalyzers. We've acquired such a distinct version of the breathalyzer test that we'd have to also import some of the straws that are used."
"So we have to craftly used straws to be able to provide that level of breathalyzer in there, but there has been convictions for breathalyzers over the months, at least since I've been here, I'm sure that there has been, and my deputy, Mr. Williams, would be one of the first persons to say that he's done that several times, as well as our officers. So there is the use of breathalyzers on the highways. There is the use of speed guns. We do a level of monitoring."
And what about lax enforcement? Sadly, it's part of the culture in Belize - but it does lead to lives being lost. We also asked Gentle about that:
Jules Vasquez "What is this with the with the culture of lax and and discriminating enforcement, that you only enforce if it's somebody you don't know or somebody who no got strings?"
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "I don't think that's the case, Jules, but I've seen it happen as well. But I don't think it's just primarily because you have strings or it's discriminated. It's primarily a culture that needs to be changed. I'm not denying the fact that that is evident. But there is a culture that if I know you, there is a level of leniency. And that is what we discourage our officers from doing. But what we've tried to say to our officers is to enforce the law, regardless of who that person is."
And while the experience of this newsroom is that the lax enforcement culture remains in the police and transport department - what's most incredible to us is that the government of Belize has not put out a single comprehensive declaratory statement or strategy to respond to this historic tragedy.
We asked Gentle if anything different will. Be done going forward:
Jules Vasquez "Is this an inflection point for you all? We have 10 people dead. It's a worse traffic fatality I have ever seen in memory. Is it an event that will make all the relevant authorities, municipal, central government, and law enforcement converge to come up with a plan to certainly take us through Christmas, but even thereafter?"
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "I agree. And even before, like I've been saying, even before this incident occurred, we have been having that dialogue. We have been having that conversation."
Jules Vasquez "You could understand a member of the public who would say, while you all are conversating and strategize and planning, people are dying. It has been the worst year for traffic fatalities on record, I suspect. Last year was a 73% increase. And this year, year on year, will be significant. It's a crisis we're facing."
Leon Gentle, Chief Transport Officer "It is. And one of the things that I want to add to that, and if you look at majority of these accidents or incidents, and I've said this before, the onus is not only on the infrastructure that is available in our country, the enforcement that is conducted, the authorities that are affected, the health system that is strained based on these collisions or accidents or incidents, whichever you may call it, but the onus has to also be on the persons behind the wheel."
But the inflection point is crystal clear for the mayor of the Twin Towns. Earl Trapp says that they will be ramping up their road presence within both of the towns.
Earl Trapp, Mayor of Santa Elena San Ignacio "We have been having just too much accidents in our country a small country and honestly many of the accidents are due to driving under the influence of alcohol so I think it's, I mean accidents will happen but when it happens it's best it happens and it's not a it's people that were under the influence of alcohol. I mean we have to do everything to save lives here."
"My traffic wardens will work within the town limit within San Ignacio and Santa Elena and I have gotten approval from the OC here in San Ignacio to get the support from the police department but that was just more during normal working hours but because of what transpired and because of the festive season that is quickly approaching us we will have to implement more check points within the towns and after normal working hours and I think once we do that, that will curb the rate of the accidents that have been occurring over the last two months."
Turning now to other news, Minister of Agriculture, Jose Mai traveled to Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico to on Sunday on an important mission: to try and save Belize's cattle exports.
Over this weekend, the NTUCB held their 58th AGM, where they elected new executive members. Succeeding Luke Martinez is Ella Waight. Waight has been involved in unionism for 23 years, starting as a regular member at SSB. She moved up the ranks until she became treasurer at CWU and she's been a part of the NTUCB executive for the past eight years. She says that with all that experience, she's confident she can do more for the country as president of the union. She spoke to us via Zoom today.
The Second Vice President is Clifford Martinez, the Assistant General Secretary is Ayona Ramirez, and the Assistant Treasurer is Shane Reneau. Martinez stays on as an executive member as a trustee.
The city's garbage will be picked up as normal starting this week. That's after central government once again came to City Hall's rescue. The council had racked up arrears of eight hundred thousand dollars due to low cash flow in the third and fourth quarters of the year - and for the first time under a PUP City Admin - Waste Control wasn't going to take it. Mayor Bernard Wagner explained the fix:
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor "I believe, through the government interjection, they had agreed with BWC to have it resume the picking up on the condition that we make good of our 65 per week, consistently up until the end of December and thereafter we begin to look at how we reduce the arrears."
Reporter "So central government has provided a bail out?"
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor "No, I believe they had discussions with the entity on our behalf and had agreed to, and obviously asked us if we could comply with that offer, which we did, but we had been essentially earmarked to commence our regular payment schedule from the first of December, which we had been doing."
And while Belmopan put in a word for City Hall - it's. also doing a solid for consumers. In an unprecedented Christmas special, Government today announced that the 12.5% GST will be waived on local retail sales of ALL standard-rated goods on December 14, 15, 21, and 22nd. So that means on these days, you can purchase goods in shops and stores across the country basically at a 12.5% discount.
It seems like a politically flavored Christmas offering on the cusp of an election year, but today we spoke to Belize's chief tax collector and she said - her Department was the one that realized that they were over performing and suggested a tax ease:
So, with 12.5 off, what should you focus your purchasing power on? Longsworth recommended big gifts and larger household spending:
Michelle Longsworth, Director General - BTS "This is a high spending season. We know how Belizeans are. Christmas is a big thing for us. And so it's not only about the food items, it's about the gifts that you want to buy for your loved ones. It's for that new TV that you want to put in your house. It's for that sofa set. It's for the paint that you want to buy to paint your walls. It's for the materials, the construction materials that you want to buy to fix whatever it is that you want to fix your house."
"So it's for everything. And I think that is what Belizeans and I will look forward to during the Christmas time because many of us go out of our way to get that little additional money to buy our children, our spouses, our loved ones, that special gifts."
"And I think no more that we can, it will be easier for them to see, wow, I can actually go and buy more than I thought I could because I will be getting or not having to pay the 12.5% GST on it. So they definitely will spend more and I think have a more enjoyable Christmas that way."
For. government it might look like they are losing out on revenue - but what they give up on one tax, they recoup on the other:
Michelle Longsworth, Director General - BTS "On a regular weekend, we at the Belize Tax Service collect, let's say, 2 to 2.5 million in GST. Now, for these tax free days, which is the 14th and 15th, the 21st and the 22nd, we estimate, or we are projecting, I think it's 2.5, so you're looking at 5 million dollars over these two weekends for people to make use of."
"But at the same time, we are putting about 12.5% in people's pocket. So we know this is a high season for spending, so people will have more money to spend at the end of the day. So it's kind of a balancing off because the more people spend, the more we have the ability to collect back."
"Whilst we'll not be collecting at GST, we do look at the other side as business tax. So there will be an offsetting per se. So it's not a loss, it's incentivizing our people to spend their money at home and invest in our economy."
The lifeless body of 42 year old Ryan Romero was found on Saturday in Belize City near the Yabra bridge not too far from his home. Romero was an epileptic patient, and ACP Romero told us today that they are not suspecting any foul play was involved.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "On Saturday the 7th day of December police responded to reports of a body found by the Yabra bridge upon the arrival they found the lifeless body of a person in the water he was taken out and after he was identified as Ryan Romero of Belize City. He was taken to the KHMH where he was pronounced dead on arrival investigations reveal that he was last scene in that area and there after his body was found. He is known to suffer from seizures. No signs of any injuries were observed on the body."
They Shot At A Lady Cop's House
Police are also investigating a shooting in St Matthews Village that occurred last week. The target was the home of a female police officer. The corporal emerged from her home after hearing gunshots to discover a number of bullet holes from the outside of her house. ACP Romero gave us more details today.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "On Friday the 6th day of December police responded to a shooting at St Mathew's village and upon arrival they found Elena Monterroza a police officer who reported that while she was at home she heard several bangs that sounded like gunshots. She called for police assistance and there after police came to the area where they found bullet holes on two vehicles that were parked near the side of the house and also bullet holes were seen on the house. An investigation is being carried out and so far no one is detained for this shooting."
Call Center Christmas
And finally tonight...on Friday we attended a Christmas party that one of the call Centers had for 50 children from Queen Street Baptist School.