Car, truck and ambulance damaged in Western Hwy. accidents

Three people escaped serious injuries in two separate mid afternoon traffic accidents today on the same portion of the Western Highway. A News Five crew returning from an assignment in Cayo, found police at mile ten, trying to get all the facts straight. According to Sergeant Luis Castellanos, the first accident happened shortly after two o’clock when a car heading west and being driven by twenty four year old Hattieville resident Martin King, spun out of control and skidded backwards into a pickup truck that was travelling towards Belize City. After slamming into the right side of the pick up, the car then crashed into a culvert at the entrance of the Almond Hill nightclub. A passenger in the car complained of shoulder pain while the driver was unhurt. The driver of the pickup, twenty-eight year old John Eiley of San Pedro town, also escaped injury. Police say King’s car was not insured and that it had only a temporary permit from customs. Castellanos told News Five that King will be arrested for the traffic violation and that an additional charge of speeding, believed to have contributed to the accident, is being considered. The second accident happened just minutes after the paramedics arrived on the scene. Castellanos says that after determining that there were no life threatening injuries in the first accident, the ambulance, driven by thirty-two year old John Arana, was returning to the City when it slipped off the side of the highway and overturned. No one was injured and it is believed that rain was a factor in the mishap.