Honduran National knocked down on the Northern Highway…
Ronaldo Portillo
A Honduran national who was standing on the shoulder of the Northern Highway in the vicinity of Mile three, was killed during the lunch hour in the heavily trafficked area. Ronaldo Portillo died instantly when he was hit by an SUV heading into the City as he waited for his brother. News Five’s Delahnie Bain found out that the Portillo was in that area looking for a job.
Delahnie Bain, Reporting
Twenty-one year old Ronaldo Portillo was hit by a Nissan X-terra SUV while he was on a parked bicycle on the shoulder of the Northern Highway. Ronaldo was waiting for his brother Daniel to cross the road. Daniel’s employer, Nigel Matus, was on the scene shortly after the accident.
Nigel Matus, Employer, Accident Victim’s Brother
“He is one of my workers and he was coming from work and he told his brother to wait out here for him and he went to leave his daughter on—I don’t know what this street’s name is—but when he came out he just saw the car knock his brother down.”
The circumstances surrounding Ronaldo’s death are under investigation since he was reportedly not directly in the path of traffic.
Nigel Matus
“Just one fast… gone. He took him from here to way there; I don’t know how much feet that it; probably fifty feet.”
Monica Bodden, Love TV
“And he died on the spot?”
Nigel Matus
“Yea, he died on the spot; sixty feet they said. He was on the side of the road waiting on his brother.”
Delahnie Bain
“So what do you think happened, they didn’t see him over there?”
Nigel Matus
“These guys are telling me that they saw the guy taking out an icebox of beer like the guy was drinking. That’s what they’re saying, I don’t know.”
The parents of the young driver, Billy and Deanne Musa, also showed up at the scene of accident, where Ronaldo’s body laid for over an hour. They were apologetic about what happened and promised to assist the family.
Deanne Musa, Mother of Driver
“The only I would like to say is that we are sorry there’s a… (crying). We’re sorry.”
Billy Musa, Father of Driver
“We would just like to say that we are very sorry for what happened. There’s a deceased and we know how it feels, we wouldn’t want to lose a family member and we’re going to do whatever it takes to assist the family. That’s all we want to say.”
Friends of the Portillo brothers say Ronaldo was planning to return to home to Honduras because things were not working out for him in Belize. Delahnie Bain for News Five.
While the friends and family of the deceased blame the driver, a report from police this evening says that the Portillo brothers were riding in the same direction as the vehicle, driven by the seventeen year old. According to the report, the two were turning left when Ronaldo collided into the rearview mirror and front right side of the SUV.
life is a mishap.
The government needs to build better roads all over Belize for the safety of the pedestrians’ and bikers. Countless amounts of people have died on the sides of those roads like the victim in this post. When vehicles’ of all sizes / bicycles and people are using the same roads to commute back and forth accidents are just waiting to happen.
The roads or streets are not lined properly; many roads are dark at night, without any reflectors for guidance. Many drivers and passengers are reckless in Belize, riding in their vehicles’ not wearing seat belts, and often drinking while driving, sadly I have seen this for myself.
This is an unfortunate case of death, one that could have been avoided too; sadly no amount of money should be able to pay off a love one’s death.
I have long commenced a campaign to stop this kind of vile attack on persons because of their names and family ties. No child has a choice about who they are born to. None of us for that matter. This is a very tragic occurrence…nothing more, nothing less. Who the driver was does not mean squat! What if it was the other way around….that Stefan Musa was the one ran over, would that make it better. What comes thru every time in comments is someone’s deep seethed grudge. Stop it, it is not helping anything.
to Rhenae Nunez: This is not about names, it’s about irresponsible driving and no care for human life. What is happening in this case??? was this rich boy charged? Just because this man is an immigrant, it doesn’t justify the injustice!!! where is justice?? he left a kid without a father. I hope we will see that this boy gets charged. It’s not fair!!! This is not about names, it’s about irresponsible driving and no care for human life.
irresponsible driving?? I think u should think about it more. The northern highway is a HIGHWAY, its use for higher speed of driving. If you decide to cross one of those express freeways in the states u will get knock down and cause other people to be killed. In this case if he tried to brakes suddenly it could cause him to either lose control and put his life at risk too or even making a sudden turn. And this sort of thing could happen to anyone and even u too.