STANN CREEK VALLEY ROAD, Fri. Dec. 13, 2019– Two persons have died as a result of two separate road traffic accidents. Those two persons are: Manuelito Ye, 25, of Bullet Tree, Cayo, and Lydia Weller, 60, a resident of Dangriga.
Weller’s death occurred at about 3:30 this afternoon at Mile 13 on the Stann Creek Valley Road near Alta Vista. Beverly Flores, 57, of Dangriga, was driving a Toyota Highlander SUV from Belmopan to Dangriga, and Weller was a passenger in the vehicle, along with her 4-year-old granddaughter.
Coming from the opposite direction, from Dangriga to Belmopan, was a taxi van being driven by Aziz Ariola, 22, of Dangriga, and traveling along with Ariola in the van were 3 passengers.
Police said that on the vehicles’ arrival at Mile 13, there was a head-on collision when the van slammed head-on into the Highlander. As a result, Lydia Weller suffered massive head and body injuries and died almost immediately, while Flores’ leg was reportedly severely injured. The four-year-old was also injured.
Ariola and the passengers in the taxi van all suffered varying degrees of injury. The occupants of both vehicles were taken to the Southern Regional Hospital, where Lydia Weller was declared dead on arrival.
Another traffic accident caused the death of Manuelito Ye, a park ranger posted at the Cahal Pech archaeological site located in San Ignacio. Ye was riding his motorcycle from San Ignacio to Bullet Tree, on the Bullet Tree Falls road in San Ignacio at about 12:40 Saturday morning when he lost control and fell off his motorcycle. Ye suffered head and body injuries.
Brothers Abel Najarro, 33, a taxi driver of Valley of Peace village, and Santos Najarro, 34, also a driver of Valley of Peace, who were traveling in the same direction behind Ye in their red taxi car, stopped to help Ye, and as they were assisting the injured park ranger, a Prado being driven by Ernesto Urbina, 59, of Maya Street, San Ignacio, who was traveling from Bullet Tree to San Ignacio, hit the three men and slammed into the brothers’ parked taxi.
Police said that the driver of the Prado did not stop to help the three injured men; instead he sped away.
The men were taken to the San Ignacio Community Hospital by a driver, and Manuelito Ye was declared dead, and brothers Abel and Santos were admitted in a serious but stable condition. The two brothers have since been transferred to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for further treatment.
Police said that an immediate investigation was carried out and Urbina was found and detained pending a number of charges, including causing death by careless conduct, failing to render aid, failing to report an accident, and leaving the scene of an accident, among other charges.