Accident on N. Highway claims life of Japanese volunteer

A collision on the Western Highway near Cotton Tree Village has left one person dead and two seriously injured. According to police reports, the crash occurred around five-thirty on Tuesday evening. Preliminary investigations reveal that fifty-four year old St. Matthews Village resident Timoteo Gonzales was heading home from Belmopan in his Ford ranger pickup, but as he travelled between miles forty-three and forty-four a Geo Prism crashed head on into the truck.

Reports are that the car, which was carrying two Japanese nationals, apparently lost control and collided into the pickup. The car’s passenger, thirty-four year old Satushi Yazawa, suffered severe head and body injuries and died on the spot. The driver, thirty-two year old Aumi Okumo, remains in a very critical condition at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Gonzales, who received injuries to his face and chest, remains hospitalised at the Western Regional Hospital in a guarded condition. Yazawa, a computer technician, had been doing volunteer work for the past year and a half at the Ministry of Education in Belmopan. Okumo, we understand, had been in the country on a six month vacation.

According to Minoro Ikegami, the coordinator of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, Yazawa’s remains will be cremated and his ashes taken back to his homeland. Meanwhile, police investigations into the accident continue.