Two children injured by hit and run driver
Life is increasingly cheap on the streets of Belize City… and this trend is reflected not just in the proliferation of firearms, but in the equally dangerous weapons known as motor vehicles. On Thursday afternoon a family of pedestrians barely escaped death at the hands of a cowardly young driver who has still not been apprehended by police.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Three-year-old Angeli Maleni Miranda and two year old Anthony Andes Miranda and their mother, Erica Isabel Martinez, were standing at the corner of Lindo’s Alley and Vernon Street waiting for a bus when a pickup truck, travelling on Vernon Street slammed into the side of a car that had sped through a stop sign on Mosul Street. The car’s driver lost control and his vehicle ran right into the young children.
Erica Martinez, Mother of injured children
“When I turned around to check my daughter, I noticed that she was bleeding a lot and in a lot of pain. My son fell against a wall and hurt his head and it began to swell.”
Young Angeli’s right foot was broken and her two front teeth knocked out. She also suffered a head injury along with cuts and bruises to her face. Little Anthony appears to be doing much better with only a few abrasions to his body. A CAT Scan will determine whether or not the children may have suffered any more serious injuries, but it seems for the moment that their prognosis is good. Martinez says it was a man that came to their rescue and took them to the K.H.M.H., but she does not know who hit the children, only that after they arrived at the hospital a man came by to offer her money and asked her not to speak with the authorities.
Erica Martinez
“Me noh know what happen to my baby. What happen to the baby and you come yet and give me your money, what happen to you, go,” le digo yo (I said to him). “Ker (take) it gyal, ker it, money.” No quiero money (I don’t want money). “No talk nothing to the police, police noh good.”
However, Martinez says this morning the same man in the company of another, who she says introduced himself as the driver’s father, gave her seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars for both her children to get the examination they needed.
The area where the accident took place is a busy intersection during the evening rush hour and people have been complaining about the amount of reckless driving that occurs at the location. For the moment, police have detained one person who they saw running away from the scene of Thursday’s accident, but he is claiming he was not the driver but only one of three passengers inside the car.
Martinez, who is from Honduras, has been living here for several years. She says she has no job and no money and has been getting some assistance from relatives. She hopes the person responsible for her children’s injuries will provide additional financial help if they need further medical attention. Meanwhile, police have released the man detained without learning the identity of the driver of the Mazda that caused the accident.
