One dead, four injured in W. Highway crash

One person is dead and several have been left injured following a Saturday afternoon traffic accident on the Western Highway. The collision occurred shortly after 2:00 p.m. between a pickup truck and a Novelos bus travelling in opposite directions. Police report that as the vehicles reached between miles twenty-eight and twenty-nine, near the Belize Zoo curve, the pickup truck, driven at the time by twenty-seven year old police constable Nicholas Gomez, went out of control and crashed head on into the bus that was heading towards Belmopan. His passenger, thirty-five year old Shirley Hyde, who was inside the pickup truck, suffered severe head and body injuries and died at the scene. Other occupants of the vehicle were also hurt. Five-year-old Janine Palacio received injuries to the body, eleven-year-old Shara Myvett broke her left foot and also suffered head injuries, thirty-eight year old Arthur Wagner received body injuries, while thirty-one year old Rosalie Galvez suffered a broken left wrist. As a result of the accident, Constable Gomez, who was not on duty at the time, was arrested and charged with manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct, driving without due care and attention and four counts of negligent grievous harm. Traffic mishaps remain among the nation’s leading causes of death, and with the National Agriculture and Trade Show taking place this weekend in Belmopan, police are bracing for the worst. Their already numerous checkpoints will be augmented and the Traffic Department is urging drivers to lay off the booze and slow down.