Child Killed in Road Traffic Accident

Kaylene Mai

Also in the west…There’s a tragic story of a young child who was killed in a traffic accident on Independence Day.  The death of the eight year old Kaylene Mai is even more devastating for the family because the vehicle in which she was travelling was being driven by her mother, thirty-one year old Evelyn Kuylen. The accident occurred on the George Price Highway in the west when the family was returning home from the uniform parade in San Ignacio. Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting
A Benque Viejo family tonight mourns the death of one of their loved ones following a fatal traffic accident on the George Price Highway.  Eight year old Kaylene Mai perished at the San Ignacio Hospital less than an hour after the vehicle she was travelling in flipped several times between miles 68 and 69 on the Benque Viejo Road. Kaylene and her two siblings – ages ten and two – were flung from the vehicle to the pavement. Their mother, thirty-one year old Evelyn Kuylen, who was driving the vehicle at the time, was trapped behind the steering wheel.

Voice of: Evelyn Kuylen, Mother of Deceased
“We were coming back from the twenty-first parade from Cayo to Benque coming home. We were coming home. The back wheel from the driver’s side start giving trouble and the vehicle started to swerve from side to side and I couldn’t control it and I lost control of it and the vehicle flipped. Then I noticed my three kids on the road side and I stayed trapped inside the vehicle. A taxi was behind, coming towards Benque as well, and they were the first ones to render assistance. One of them broke the windshield from the vehicle so that I could come out. By the time I got out, there were a lot of people on the scene. They assisted me…a taxi driver offered to take me to the San Ignacio Hospital because I noticed that my daughter, Kaylene, the one that passed away, she was in a critical condition and we rushed her to the hospital and it was at the hospital that she died. My other two kids, they just suffered…well my son, he only suffered injuries to his head and both hands and leg and the minor one, which is two years old, well nothing never happened to her. I just suffered injuries to my left hand and have a little pain on my lower back and my neck and my left leg. But I guess I can take that pain.”

Reymundo Reyes

Police were called out shortly after to find an extensively damaged Mazda Tribute SUV on the left hand side of the road.

ASP Reymundo Reyes, Deputy O.C., San Ignacio Police
“San Ignacio Police proceeded to the area where on arrival they saw a darl Mazda Tribute parked on the side of the road facing from….that was travelling from a east to west direction. Information is that Miss Evelyn Mai was travelling towards Benque and in her company was three of her kids. Apparently she lost control of her vehicle causing the vehicle to flip and as a result, she and the kids were transported to the San Ignacio Town Hospital. Unfortunately, while undergoing treatment, Kaylene Mai, her eight year old daughter, succumbed to injuries she sustained.”

It’s a harrowing ordeal for the now mother of two, who mustered the strength to speak with us today despite initially taking blame for her daughter’s demise.

Voice of: Evelyn Kuylen
“I was blaming myself at the beginning, but then I know it is an accident. But I’m just taking it one day at a time. I have the other two, which I have to take care of and be strong for them. Kaylene was a very fun, happy person. She was always willing to assist and participate in school events. She was a very smart person, always bring an average from nineties up…she was very smart.”

While the life of Kaylene cannot be replaced, Deputy Officer Commanding San Ignacio Police, Assistant Superintendent Reymundo Reyes, says that drivers must take heed when traversing that stretch of the highway.

ASP Reymundo Reyes
“We are asking the general public to take their time; we are approaching an area where there is a dangerous curve. Look at the weather conditions, look at your speed because travelling the highway, you have to be considerate not only for you, but for others driving. So speeding is something that you have to take keen attention at and drive safe on that, especially on that portion. Because we have seen that in less than a month, this is the second fatal accident in that area.”

Kuylen has since been served with a notice of intended prosecution. Duane Moody for News Five.