Woman knocks down boy and flees scene

Summer break for schools is almost upon us, but one unfortunate primary school student may be out of school for quite some time. A near-fatal hit and run accident in Belize City sometime after two o’clock today has landed a child inside the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he is receiving medical attention for severe head and facial injuries sustained during the ordeal.  The boy was on his way home from school and while walking along East Canal, near its intersection with Ebony Street, in the Conch Shell Bay area, he was hit by a pickup truck.  He fell unconscious and bled profusely from the nose and mouth, while the driver of the vehicle, a woman, proceeded in the direction of Youth for the Future Drive.  Residents and vendors in the area reportedly pursued the driver and caught up with her shortly thereafter.  The boy was immediately rushed to the hospital where he is undergoing treatment.  News Five spoke with Fred Grant, a fish vendor, who came to the rescue of the injured child.

Freddie Grant, First Responder

Freddie Grant

“When I ketch up, dehn say wah lee bwai just get knock down deh and then wah fella start to chase the vehicle because the vehicle neva stop. Then when I look, I see wah young bwai on the ground. So I say dah mussi one of fi we children from back yah. So I rush goen deh. When I conscious, young bwai got wah whole scratch and thing. We put ahn ina pickup back and we ker ahn dah hospital. And that dah weh gone on right deh. But weh I say, lately, traffic round yah so improve too much. Weh dehn fix up the street, people can’t beat traffic and then it wah be wah problem and then more people wah get knocked down right dah that corner deh. Young bwai talk to me alright when we di ker ahn dah hospital. He was conscious and I hope ih wah make it. but talk to the mayor to put some speed bump around yah cause more people wah end up di get hurt round yah. And when dehn knock down one ah fi we people dehn, it wah be wa different scenario then. We noh take things lightly around yah; round yah dah wah ghetto zone. Once dehn knock down anybody fi we through yah, it was be problem and then somebody wah get charge for simple-ness. But we ker the young bwai dah hospital. Lucky thing we had wah pickup truck out yah soh fi one ah fi we friends dehn and we rush ahn dah hospital and thing. I hear ih alright.”

Isani Cayetano

“Tell us about the driver of the vehicle. I understand it was a female who was driving the pickup.”

Freddie Grant

“Well that dah my understanding too because I neva really ketch up if dah mi wah female or wah male because I just jump ina di pickup and ker the young bwai dah the hospital. And then I get fi understand that the persons dah wah money people so dehn deal with dehn different than somebody locally. But then if it was somebody from the neighborhood here, then dehn neva mi wah get away like that. It mi wah be more problem again. You can’t di deal with poor people and knock dehn down like dehn dah animal and left dehn down there on the street like that. The female persons, my understanding, dehn come and dehn even push the police dehn out of the way and tell them dehn wah drive the vehicle to the station. Dehn say noh worry about it, we wah pay for that…like dehn could pay for people life.”

Since the partial closure of the BelCan Bridge to vehicular traffic, there has been a constant bottleneck in the vicinity of the BelChina Bridge.  To beat the traffic, motorists are now using the newly paved stretch on East Canal, an area that doesn’t have adequate speed bumps.