Two brothers die in Northern Highway accident

It was supposed to have been a night out on the town for a group of young people… but a combination of too much partying and perhaps a driver’s error ended in tragedy for the Bonilla family over the weekend. Around eight-thirty on Friday night, nineteen-year old Carlos Bonilla, accompanied by five other people, was driving a friend’s car from Ladyville to Belize City when, upon reaching mile six, he lost control of the small blue car and overturned. Carlos and his older brother, twenty-one-year old Jose Alejandro Bonilla, were admitted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital but neither of the brothers recovered from their injuries. Jose died on Saturday morning, while Carlos passed away this morning. A grief stricken relative of the Bonilla brothers, Merilyn Young, says the family wants to use their tragedy to create awareness among parents of the hazards of drinking and driving.

Merilyn Young, Accident Victims’ Cousin

“That they will not give, the parents nor friends will not give the children a vehicle to drive under the influence or without a driver’s license. It shows you how just one jolly ride could turn into something different.

My cousin was given the vehicle by Ramon Vasquez to go purchase brandy and Carlos went to pick up his other two brothers and his friend. And they were driving around the city and then they went up to Ladyville to play billiards. And then they were coming down the Northern Highway, and not to crash into another vehicle, they diverted on the side and he lost control of the vehicle and turned over. The vehicle turned over with six of them in it.”

The other people injured in Friday night’s accident are twenty-three year old Sofia Estrada, twenty-one year old Hugo Rivas, twenty-one year old Luciano Bonilla and twenty-five year old Juan Rene Valdecion. They have all been treated and released from the K.H.M.H.