Ferry cables snap, bus passengers panic
On Wednesday morning more than thirty bus passengers trying to cross the Belize River found themselves trapped on a runaway ferry. News 5 understands that just after ten yesterday morning, the operator of the Young Gal Ferry in Cayo saw a huge wave of floodwater coming towards him. The wave picked up the ferry, with the bus and everybody on it, broke all but one of the cables securing the ferry and carried it an estimated three hundred yards down river. According to witnesses, the next few seconds were filled with waterlogged panic.
Floyd Gladden, Witnessed Ferry Accident
“There was pandemonium on the bus this morning because the people thought the ferry was going to sink while floating down the river. The people start getting off the bus and jumping off the ferry, in the river. And a ten-year-old boy had to be rescued by the older people on the bus.”
News 5 understands that everyone involved in the accident escaped without injuries. According to Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Works, Cadet Henderson, the Young Gal Ferry was being repaired today with two thicker security cables put in place. As to the cause of the accident, Henderson says on Tuesday night, BECOL engineers reported a flash flood which caused them to lower the spillway, resulting in the discharge of some thirty-nine cubic meters per second of water to be released into the Macal River, creating a wave of floodwater that rushed downstream. Witnesses on the scene, however, report that the river was already flooded by heavy rains upstream and that this is the second time the ferry’s cables have snapped. According to the Ministry of Works, a contract has been signed between the Government of Belize and Johnston International for the design and construction of a truss bridge at the ferry site. Physical works on the bridge are scheduled to begin in November of this year.
