Truck pulls down light poles in Belize City

A freak accident occurred in downtown Belize City this evening but miraculously no one was injured. Just before five p.m. a truck from Dangriga turning from Queen Street into the Majestic yard caught a low hanging B.E.L. wire, but instead of simply snapping the wire the truck’s momentum triggered a chain reaction which brought down at least four light poles along with transformers and assorted fixtures. Although no bystanders were hit by falling poles and wires a number of cars were damaged and a good portion of the Fort George area was plunged into blackout. For the large number of pedestrians on their way home from work or shopping it was definitely an event to remember.

Barry Smith, Witness

“It was like “Independence Day”. I’m serious, I’m serious, right. Sparks were all over the place. The truck, he kept on driving, you know, and I was like shouting for him, telling him that the wire was like hooked up and he couldn’t hear me so he went on.”

Clive Hyde, Witness

“What happened, the truck made a right turn into the Majestic parking lot and he had was to do two swings because of the vehicles that park out here, right. And when he went about maybe twenty five yards into the parking lot the pan a di truck on top hit on the high-tension wire, right. The truck was going slow and the wire just keep tightening and tightening and all of a sudden the poles and the wire just keep coming down and it started to sparks on top of the truck.”

Q: “The truck is a big truck but it doesn’t look that high, do you think the wire was strung too low?”

Clive Hyde

“The wire was strung too low because about fifteen minutes before that a truck had came and the wire was hook and the guy stop and ih raise it up, right. But this one, the guy didn’t notice it.”

At news time B.E.L. bucket trucks had arrived on the scene but due to time constraints we were unable to solicit comment from any spokesman or supervisor from the company.