Passenger dies after being thrown from pickup

Riding in the open back of a pickup truck is a popular Belizean pastime, but on Friday it meant death for a Cayo man. Twenty-three year old Samuel Shish of Calla Creek Village was riding in the pan of a pickup belonging to Peter Margessam when, between mile sixty-nine and seventy on the Western Highway, Margessam swerved to avoid a vehicle that stopped in front of him. Shish was thrown from the truck and subsequently died from head injuries. Margessam has been charged with manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct, and driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention.