Was it poverty or electrocution that killed Emelio Orellano?

Shoddy electrical connections led to the death of a man earlier today in Belize City.  Emelio Orellano was electrocuted while he was trying to connect electricity to his humble abode.  While the connection was illegal, there is more to the story than meets the eye. Orellano and his common-law wife, like many of the families in the Antelope Street Extension area, have been squatting on land near the Lord Ridge Cemetery for many years and have been trying to make life with the little they earn.  News Five’s Marion Ali was at the scene when police moved his body and then she headed to Roaring Creek Village to visit his family that has been beset by frequent deaths.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Emelio Antonio Orellano, also known as “Fana” and his common-law wife of ten years, Carmita Tasher, have been squatting on land in the Antelope Street area near the Lord Ridge Cemetery for over two years.  Like the other twenty or so families who live in the area, he has been getting energy supply from individual connections that they have made from the street to their  humble homes, which are located several yards from the street in an overgrown area and accessed only by trails of flimsy London bridges. Because the illegal connections frequently become loose, when Orellano arrived home intoxicated after midnight and discovered this was the case, he decided to reconnect the supply to his house.  But bad luck struck.

Carmita Tasher, Common-Law-Wife

Carmita Tasher

“I seh we noh have no currant.  Ih she how we now wah have no currant and ih start to cuss up lotta bad word.  Soh I see ah gone eena di kitchen and ih get wah nipper.  I she weh yoh gwein and ih she ih gwein goh put on the currant.  Soh I tell ah lef dah thing till dah mawning.  Ih done late and yoh done drunk already, lef if till dah morning.  Soh he start to cuss me up.  Well I done used to it soh I lef ah lone.  Soh I see ah gone eena di direction weh di currant deh and well ah lef di door open and I gone back gone lay down.  I drop asleep soh when I wake up now I get si di door open soh I seh but how he noh come in ah ih bed yet.”

Tasher says it was another neighbor who went to check the area where they connected their electrical line and that’s where he found Orellano in the swamp dead.  She explained that life has been difficult for them and that’s why they decided to squat on the land.

Carmita Tasher

“I mi want my own place right and I noh want pay rent and so…”

Marion Ali

“You decided to come here.”

Carmita Tasher

“Mhmm.  Weh part I live back soh wi noh have no lamp post and everybody got dehn lee piece ah wire weh dehn hook, up hook up, and back yah pretty dark when dah night.”

It is not an easy time for the Orellano family of Roaring Creek, who has lost three members in the last eight months.  In September of 2009 another brother, Miguel Mendoza was murdered in Valley of Peace and just last week it was an uncle who passed away.  But this latest tragedy is really affecting Orellano’s teenage daughter, Samantha.

Linda Orellano

Linda Orellano, Sister of Deceased

“Di shock weh ih get ah di news weh ih daddy dead ih mi really shock her and ih mi ketch fits and thing and dehn mi have to ker ah dah hospital.”

Marion Ali

“Is she ok now?”

Linda Orellano

“Yes ma’am. Dah wah big shock fi she and wah loss fi she because that dah mi the only person weh support she and me too, you know?”

Marion Ali

“And she’s going to school?”

Linda Orellano

“Yes ma’am, she eena third form, going in fourth.”

It was only recently that Orellano was in his hometown.

Carmita Twist, Villager, Roaring Creek

“When Fana come eena dis yard ih always holla Ms. Cita, weh di go on.  A tell ah nothing Fana bwai.  Ih she yes ah come.  Ih she where is my brother, Nelson.  I tell ah Nelson noh deh yah, ih deh dah jail and ih dah stay by mi daughter-in-law and from deh ih dah get up and goh.  Ih seh ah wah see yoh wen ah come back and dat’s all.  dat dah just bout wah week ago.”

The family has not yet decided when they will bury their dead.  Marion Ali for News Five.