Boat accident claims life on La Isla Bonita
Meanwhile, in Ambergris Caye a boatman lost his life in open sea when his vessel, the Right Now from the Sueño del Mar, was involved in a boat accident. The thirty-three year old was returning to La Isla Bonita at about six-thirty when in the area of White Sands Cove, it collided with a water taxi, Tio John, from the Coastal Express. News Five’s Delahnie Bain was in San Pedro this morning and has the tragic story.
Delahnie Bain, Reporting
Two boats collided in the waters north of Ambergris Cayes on Sunday night. The accident involved the vessels, Tio John from Coastal Express Water Taxi and the Right Now from Sueño Del Mar Resort. Only one of the eight passengers on the Tio John, a US National was injured, while the Captain of the Right Now, forty-two year old Antonio Tepaz, had to be flown into Belize City for surgery to his ankle.
But the impact was fatal for thirty-three year old Cesar Scott, who had only been working with Sueño Del Mar for about a month. According to Officer in Charge of the CIB in San Pedro, Scott’s skull was crushed and his shoulder shattered in the accident and when we got to the scene, his blood was still splattered inside the boat. Phillip Davis was a passenger on the Tio John.
Philip Davis, Passenger, Coastal Express
“I was just going home after having a vacation and about ten minutes into the trip, there was a loud bang, the boat leapt out of the water. The captain immediately shut down the engines, spun the boat around and that’s when we saw that we’d hit another boat. We were inside the cabin, that’s a covered area and we didn’t even see the boat, just a loud bang and we were thrown all over the cabin.”
Delahnie Bain
“Were you hurt?”
Philip Davis
“Just a small bump to my head, but it’s very unfortunate when an accident happens like this. I really feel sorry and I send my sympathies to the guy that was very seriously injured.”
The investigations are still at an early stage, but Manager of Coastal Express, Darrel Williams, says the other boat did not have lights and no one saw it coming.
Darrel Williams, Manager, Coastal Express Water Taxi
“Our six-thirty scheduled boat was moving north and had gone into the ocean and docked to drop passengers off. On the way out of the dock, without any warning, we collided with another boat as we were moving to go north again. From the driver’s statement—the captain’s statement—he saw no lights, saw no boat; nothing just the collision. Several of the passengers have confirmed that they were looking and they saw nothing either.”
But General Manager for Sueño Del Mar, Kevin Myer, disputes that allegation and says his boat is in fact equipped with proper lights. Myer would not speak on camera but he told New Five that he does not know enough to say who is at fault and he is leaving it up to the police and Port Authority to determine. Both Myer and Williams have expressed that their employees are still shaken up after the accident.
Darrel Williams
“My captain’s very, very shook up as you can imagine. When you drive a boat that collides with someone else and it takes someone’s life, it’s a horrible situation for anybody to be pushed upon. But on our boat we had one passenger that had a dislocated shoulder, who has since gone to the doctor and I think had it put back in place and everything so she’s not too bad. But everyone else is just very shook up.”
Officials from the Police Department and the Port Authority are still conducting interviews as part of their investigations. Delahnie Bain for News Five.
Scott leaves behind a wife and seven month old baby. Word late this evening is that Tepaz is undergoing treatment at Belize Healthcare partners sustained including fluids in the lungs, a dislocated shoulder and a broken chest bone.
