ST. MATTHEWS, Belize District–In an incident that took place on Sunday, December 21, Esmeralda Can, 10, of Roaring River Village on the Hummingbird Highway, was injured after she was knocked down by an oncoming vehicle as she was running across the highway after getting out of a bus.
Just a few days later, on Boxing Day, December 26, two children, Diana Yacab, 10, and her brother Herbert Yacab, 7, both of St. Matthews Village on the George Price Highway, were similarly knocked down when they ran across the road after getting out of a bus.
The children were hit by an SUV which was travelling to Belize City from Belmopan at about 3:30 p.m. Boxing Day evening in the village. As a result, Diana suffered a cut wound to the head and abrasions to her feet, while her brother suffered head and body injuries.
The children were both rushed to the Western Regional Hospital, where they were admitted in a serious condition.
Amandala was told that when the bus on which they had been traveling stopped in St. Matthews, the children got off the bus at the bus shed and suddenly ran from behind the bus to cross the road, and they ran right into the path of the oncoming SUV.
The driver of the SUV reportedly swerved to avoid hitting the children, but to no avail.
Earlier this month, Kiran Awardo, 4, was knocked down and killed on the Southern Highway, at the junction of Sittee River Road, when he came out of the bus and ran across the road, directly into the path of an oncoming cargo truck that was travelling from the opposite direction.
The incident occurred in front of his mother and the passengers of the James Bus on which he had been travelling.
Amandala asks drivers to exercise due care and attention when they see a passenger bus come to a stop in order to let passengers dismount. They are reminded to honk their horns and slow down when approaching such a bus, and parents and guardians are also reminded to firmly hold their children’s hands so that they cannot run out of the bus, or run across the highway to the other side of the road.