Bus and pickup mash up on highway; one dead
Three persons have died in traffic fatalities in the past five days. At about six-thirty on Monday evening, forty-one year old canero, Jenaro Gaspar Sanchez perished in a traffic accident on the Phillip Goldson Highway between miles fifty-nine and sixty. Sanchez and a friend, Primitivo Cano, were heading to Santa Clara village when a Belize Bus Owners Cooperative (BBOC) Bus traveling towards Orange Walk Town crashed into their pickup. While Sanchez died on impact, Cano was rushed to the Northern Regional Hospital with head and body injuries but luckily survived and tells Duane Moody how the bus crashed into them.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Jenaro Gaspar Sanchez
This extensively damaged Toyota Tacoma pickup truck lies on the right side of the Philip Goldson Highway between miles fifty-nine and sixty. Sometime around six-thirty on Monday evening, forty-one year old Jenaro Gaspar Sanchez and forty-five year old Primitivo Cano were traveling towards Santa Clara Village when a bus belonging to the Belize Bus Owners Cooperative and driven at the time by thirty year old Cyril Wade Junior, collided into them. Sanchez, the driver of the pickup truck, died on the spot while Cano received injuries to his head, arm and chest and was rushed to the Northern Regional Hospital. According to Sanchez’s wife, she last spoke to him a couple hours before the fatal accident.
Rosa Del Carmen Sanchez
Rosa Del Carmen Sanchez, Wife of Deceased
“The guy, Primitivo Cano, came and invite him to go to Orange Walk. About four o’clock, he called me and tell me that he’s coming from the Mennonite community, Shipyard. And that’s four o’clock. I never heard nothing from that time. About seven thirty, somebody called me that my husband was dead. Somebody in the vicinity come too and tell me the same thing. I called him in his cellular and nothing. My son did the same thing and they stop the cellular. From that time, nothing from him. I heard that his brains gone out. I don’t know. A bus that’s all I know about him.”
And so, the son and several relatives and friends headed to the scene of the accident. The traffic was backed up and when they got to there, they saw the motionless body of Sanchez in the rear of the pickup. Ian says he helped move his dad’s body into the back of the police truck.
Ian Sanchez, Son of Deceased
Ian Sanchez
“What I saw is the vehicle where my father was travelling was smashed bad and I saw my father lying in the back of the pickup. It is very difficult to explain.”
Duane Moody
“I understand you also helped take him out of the vehicle.”
Ian Sanchez
“Yes I helped. I helped the people put him in the police pickup.”
Duane Moody
“What do you understand happened?”
Ian Sanchez
“What people were saying was that a cane truck was coming in front without lights and the bus was coming behind the truck. So to overtake the bus to cross the road, but my father was coming.”
Duane Moody
“So the bus overtook the cane truck?”
Ian Sanchez
“That’s what I heard.”
Primitivo Cano
Primitivo Cano, who says he is lucky to be alive, recounted what he remembered right up to the point of impact with the bus.
Primitivo Cano, Victim of Traffic Accident
“We were coming from Shipyard. We had gone to weld the shaft of my truck. When we were coming back, we see the bus trying to overtake the cane truck, but in that moment we are coming so we slowed down. But with his high beam and low beam, he never put him low beam and I just remember that and then…”
Duane Moody
“You felt a knock.”
Primitivo Cano
“Yeah. My chest is not fractured, but cut on my head and stitches from the windshield.”
The family is asking for justice in the death of their loved one.
Primitivo Cano
“I need justice and I have to talk with my insurance.”
Rosa Del Carmen Sanchez
“We want justice; that’s all I want to say.”
Wade Junior has since been served with a notice of intended prosecution. Duane Moody for News Five.
Due to the unavailability of Doctor Mario Estradabran, a postmortem on Sanchez’s body is not scheduled until one p.m. on Thursday.
ALL BUS DRIVER ARE STUPID DRIVERS ON THE ROAD !!!! I REALLY MEAN STUPID !!! THEY THINK THAT THE ROAD WAS BUILT ONLY FOR THE BUSES. THEY STOP AND STOP ANY !&&N WHERE THEY !& 5&!@#$ FEEL LIKE STOPPING !!!
ENDANGERING PEOPLE LIVE WITH THEIR CARELESS DRIVING HABITS.
DO WE HAVE DRIVING LAWS IN THIS COUNTRY?
TOO MUCH !@&&*!@# POLITICS IN THE LAWS.
BEWARE DRIVERS !!! NOT TO HURT THE WRONG FAMILY THAT CANNOT TAKE IT!!!
If drivers were not always in such a rush, if they could just slow down maybe 5 miles an hour, we can cut our traffic death rate. We have bad roads most places — too narrow, often with potholes — so we need to be BETTER drivers to compensate. I think a “go slow” for drivers before Christmas might be a nice way to save a few lives at this special time of year.
RIP for the victim, and prayers for the family. I hope they receive justice, although there is no adequate compensation.
Assign a police patrol vehicle that is equipped with radar on all major highways and ticket these idiots for speeding.
@Elgin, police radar is a great idea. They use it extensively in Costa Rica, and it does slow down the drivers, at least where they have learned to expect radar police to hide.
i think the traffic dept need to step up their patrols at nite because we have a number of vehicles traveling on the roads at nite without lights. but also they need to upgrade the lights of their own caz u have a number of police vehicles without rear light and that is wat is causing a number of accidents.
PLEASE make a study. EVER since they changed the rules that buses have to arrive at a certain time to the terminals or they will not be allowed in to pick up passengers, especially the regular buses, drive like crazy! They have increased their speed to ensure they arrive on time!!! PLEASE CHECK how many accidents we already have involving buses, whether it is they knock someone down or involved in collisions in comparison to the previous years!!!
Not only are the bus drivers to blame. I see reckless drivers on the road all the time.
This is the second accident in less than two months that this bus driver, Cyril Wade Jr. is involved. Both cases are a result of over taking on the Philip Goldson highway heading north. When people seem to have friends in right places, they can overcome incidents like these.
I guess all those blaming the bus drivers aren’t commuters. They have the luxury to ride in their own cars and they DO drive 5 miles per hour, and of course, they do consider the other vehicles when overtaking!!! I am not saying the bus driver is not at fault, he is, but don’t hurry judge the man because there are factors that contribute to this happening.We all need to pressure the transport dept to be more proactive because at the end of the day, its their responsibility to make sure that the flow of traffic flows smoothly.
Since I have been in Belize I have noticed that no one wear seatbelts, the chiildren are not in carseats. I feel no one cares about the safety here. How many more Belizan will died before something is done.
Does no one care about safety here. How about all the lives that are taken here and no cares.
IN THE CAYO AND SANTA ELENA AREA, DRIVING BEHIND THE BUSES, I MEAN ALL BUSES LOADING PASSENGERS EVERY MOMENT AND EVERY MINUTE, IS HELL !!!!
THOSE BUSES ARE JUST LIKE CITY BUS , ONLY THAT THEY CARE NOT A F&&^%n SH&&T FOR THE TRAFFIC !!!!
PLEASE HELP US TRAFFIC OFFICERS, PLEASE DO.