Raul Magaña Jr. recounts the harrowing ordeal of losing his wife and son

Lissa Ying Li & Raul Magaña III

The frightening ordeal of surviving a fatal road traffic accident and witnessing the horrific deaths of a wife and son are vivid memories which, sadly, thirty-five-year-old Raul Magana Junior will have to live with.  At around three-thirty on Monday afternoon, whilst returning home to Ladyville, the sports utility vehicle in which the family was traveling, along with two other passengers, suffered a blowout.  The Toyota Land Cruiser careened violently off the highway and overturned multiple times.  When it finally came to rest, both Lissa Ying Li and her three-year-old son lay dead a distance away.  This morning, Magana recounted the harrowing incident to News Five’s Duane Moody.

Duane Moody, Reporting

There was a double fatality on the Phillip Goldson Highway on Monday evening when a Toyota Land Cruiser carrying five persons, including a toddler, was involved in a mishap. Valerie Wade witnessed the traumatic ordeal and ran to the assistance of those injured in the accident.

Voice of: Valerie Wade, First Responder [File: April 28^th, 2014]

 “When I heard that the vehicle tire burst, the vehicle lost control and it spin around like three times. After that, ih lost control in the gravel and ih flip. When it flipped, the baby and the lady drop out while it is flipping. The vehicle start to flip and flip and flip.”

Duane Moody

“The driver was still inside while this was happening?”

Voice of: Valerie Wade

“And somebody run out of the vehicle and holla help, help, help. And I run come to try and help them.”

Duane Moody

“Tell us about what you saw when you came out here to help?”

Voice of: Valerie Wade

“When I come out here, the lady done drop dead already; she mi done dead. But the baby mi still alive….ih neck mi broke and then ih mi di bleed through ih ears. But if something mi even here and mi ker ahn, ih still noh mi wah live.”

Thirty-five-year-old Raul Magaña Junior, his common-law-wife, Lissa Ying Li and their three-year-old son, Raul the third along with two others were traveling from Orange Walk to Belize City when upon reaching mile twenty-seven in Biscayne Village, the vehicle received a “blow out” on the left rear tire, causing him to lose control and flip several times.

Raul Magaña Jr.

Raul Magaña Jr., Accident Victim

“We decided to go to Orange Walk gone tow wah vehicle, me and the mechanics, and because mi wife family live right dah Orange Walk and we noh see them in a while; so I tell ahn let’s go dah Orange Walk we wah ker this vehicle, and at the same time we could go visit your family, ih mom. So that’s why she get dressed with the baby and di travel with me dah Orange walk. We did all we business, we neva did reach the mom, we decided to turn back home, to Belize. And coming back down to Belize, right around mile twenty-seven, all ah we ina di car, just di talk everything was okay, I started to feel mi vehicle funny. I tell everybody di vehicle feel funny so we di pull over. So I start slow down and pull over but the tire just completely explode and I guess due to weh di rim hit the floor, cause the vehicle completely lean sudden, the vehicle just swerve completely out of control and gone across the highway.”

The extensively damaged vehicle ended up in a ditch on the left hand side of the highway. Magaña Junior says Ying Li died on the spot and his only son died in his arms.

Raul Magaña Jr.

“Right when ih pull across di highway, ih mi di look fi go head-on into a lamppost, so because of that lamppost, I try haul back the vehicle and when I did this, by the time ih come off the highway due to the grass and wah stone, di stone knock the back of the car wheel and ih just flip. Nothing I coulda mi do and this thing happen so fast that when the vehicle finally stop turn and I look beside me—because ih turn with the wheels upside down—I notice mi wife and mi baby noh deh side ah me. So I start scream the holler fi them and come out. The other two occupants of the car, Edwin and “Tash,” come out of the car and they help me di scream and no one answer. Till I find mi wife couple feet from me ina di bush dead; bad position, bad scene. Then I start look for mi baby and when I get there, all I could see dah mi baby gasp fi air in front of me and I couldn’t do nothing. All I do dah just kneel down and hold on to ahn.”

Magaña says they were all not wearing seatbelts. The tragic incident has left him stunned.

Raul Magaña Jr.

“To be honest, they dah two ah the best thing weh I had going fi me and it just noh sink in to me, I’ll be honest.”

Duane Moody

“They weren’t wearing seatbelts?”

Raul Magaña Jr.

“No, nobody.”

Duane Moody

“Your two other friends that were with you, the mechanics, how are they doing?”

Raul Magaña Jr.

“They are okay. All ah we come out with minor bruises. What happened to them, they fly out the car. I noh know exactly which window because I noh look pan the car since and by the time I just look fi them, I can’t believe this happen to me as yet.”

Duane Moody for News Five.