_{Photo: Scene of fatal accident near mile 37 on the George Price highway}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 12, 2024

One man was killed and four persons injured in a road traffic accident that occurred on Wednesday, September 11, between Miles 36 and 37 of the George Price Highway.

Around 1:00 p.m. that day, 27-year-old Dennis Kevin Perez, a Belizean tour guide from the Belize District, who was accompanied by two American nationals identified as 33-year-old Kelsey Marie O’Connor and 33-year-old Baylee Ann O’Brien, was heading to Belize City in a Chrysler van when the van collided with a Ford Escape being driven by 40-year-old Jaime Alberto Correa, who was along with a passenger, 28-year-old Estevan Chiac.

The collision took place when the Ford Escape, which was traveling in the opposite direction, overturned, and hit the front of Perez’s van, forcing him to drive off the highway.

Perez, O’Brien, O’Connor, and Correa were injured as a result and were transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital; however, Chiac passed away on impact.

When police arrived at the scene, they saw the white Chrysler van partially in the bushes, and the green Ford Escape overturned with its four wheels in the air.