SPANISH LOOKOUT, Cayo District, Fri. June 22, 2018– Within 48 hours, 5 men died in three separate road traffic collisions while riding motorcycles.
The men were identified as Alex Duncan, a laborer of Placencia; Maurice Palma, 28, a boat captain of Placencia; Victor Manuel Martinez, 56, a laborer of Steadfast, Stann Creek District; Roland Dyck, 19, and Franz Martin, 17, both laborers of Spanish Lookout.
The first collision occurred at about 1:00 yesterday morning, Thursday, June 21.
Police said that while Alex Duncan and Maurice Palma were driving on two separate motorcycles between Mile 1 and 2 on the Placencia road, they crashed into the rear end of a Mack dump truck that was parked on the road without illumination or warning lights.
As a result, they both suffered head and bodily injuries. Duncan died immediately on the scene. They were both taken to the Southern Regional Hospital, where Palma also died shortly after his arrival as doctors were trying to treat him.
Police said that the driver of the dump truck was identified as Edwin Rene Montoya, 35, a truck driver of Santa Cruz, Stann Creek District.
Montoya was charged with 2 counts of causing death by careless conduct. Deputy Police Commissioner, Chester Williams said that Montoya can give his explanations of what led to the tragic collision to the court, but his careless actions caused the death of two men.
The second road collision occurred at about 8:45 last night, Thursday. Victor Manuel Martinez was on his way to his home and was traveling back to Steadfast on the Hummingbird Highway.
However, on his arrival between Miles 23 and 24, a head-on collision occurred between his motorcycle and a Toyota 4Runner SUV, causing Martinez to suffer massive head and body injuries, and he died immediately.
Police said that on their arrival on the scene, they saw a blue Toyota 4Runner with its front end extensively damaged and a man was lying face down on the highway about two feet away from the vehicle.
Fifty feet away from Martinez, they saw a blue motorcycle that was also extensively damaged. Police said that Can Jian Chen, a businessman of a Corozal Town, was driving the 4Runner towards Independence when the collision occurred.
Chen was detained and served with a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP).
The third collision occurred at about 12:00 midday today in Spanish Lookout. Information given by police is that Roland Dyck was driving his motorcycle on Bee Lane and crashed head-on with Franz Martin, who was also driving a motorcycle, but from the opposite direction.
As a result they both suffered head and body injuries and both died on the scene.
Police said that on their arrival on the scene, they saw two men lying motionless, 24 feet apart, on the road.
The two men were taken to the Western Regional Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.