2 Die in Head on Collision

A father of two and a teenage friend from the Belmopan area lost their lives instantly in a terrible traffic accident. Both Leonardo Ramos and Rigoberto Cabrera Junior were riding on Ramos’ newly acquired motorcycle when a car crashed into them on a stretch of the Hummingbird Highway in Belmopan, early on Saturday morning. As the families reel over their devastating loss, the driver of the vehicle is facing a slew of traffic offenses. It is also believed he was intoxicated when he crashed head on into the motorcycle. Duane Moody reports.

Insp. Stephanie Grinage, Deputy O.C., Belmopan Police Formation

“On seventh February, police received information of a traffic accident between mile fifty-four and fifty-five on the Hummingbird Highway. Upon arrival, they observed a car and a motorcycle on the left hand side of the road extensively damage, both extensively damaged. Also two male persons were observed apparently dead.”

Duane Moody, Reporting

Just before two a.m. on Saturday, a road traffic accident on the Hummingbird Highway in Belmopan claimed the lives of twenty-six year old Leonardo Ramos and seventeen year old Rigoberto Cabrera. The duo was traveling on a SKYGO Motorcycle when a Mitsubishi Galant car traveling in the opposite direction crashed head on into the bike. The impact sent Cabrera and Ramos to the pavement and to their deaths.

Leonardo Ramos

Maria Ramos, Sister of Leonardo Ramos

“The last time we saw him was Friday around eight o’clock from his house on the motorcycle. The motorcycle was for him; he just bought it about one and a half months or two months he bought it. He gone out. We mi know that he mi gwen dah Las Flores to go put on a light because they were mining a house. Only that and then he came back and he was going to go out with my brother and my brother said he was not going to go again and he gone by himself. Maybe he find his friend outside and he gone, but we don’t know from where they were coming.”

Both victims suffered severe head and upper body injuries and died on the spot. Rigoberto Junior was the youngest son of five children. For his father, the loss of his son is devastating.

Rigoberto Cabrera Sr.

Rigoberto Cabrera Sr., Father of Accident Victim (Translated)

“Wednesday, I went to work. I usually tell them goodbye and that’s it. I told him that I will be back in three to four days because I work in the mountains. So I went to work because I need to feed my children. And so I told them goodbye but I never thought that they would give me the bad news that he was dead. I lost have of my life when I lost my son. I’m not crying because I am a coward. I’m crying because it hurts, because he was my blood.”

Rigoberto Cabrera Jr.

According to relatives of the deceased, the driver of the vehicle was visibly intoxicated. Daniel Cunil had reportedly just left a bar and was on his way home, with his partner in the passenger side of the vehicle, when the accident occurred. Cunil has since been arraigned for a string of traffic offense including manslaughter by negligence.

Maria Ramos

“We see the man mi drunk and we see the body of my brother was there. All ah we feel what happen to he. He leaves behind two kids—one who is four year old and the other is one year old. The older one is going to be five years this Saturday.”

Stephanie Grinage

Insp. Stephanie Grinage

“We have since charged Daniel Cunil, twenty-four years of a Belmopan City address for two counts of Manslaughter by Negligence, two counts Causing Death by Careless Conduct, Drove Motor Vehicle Without Due Care and Attention and Driving with Alcohol Concentration Above the Prescribed Limit. So our investigation has revealed that the individual was under the influence of alcohol.”

Duane Moody for News Five.