Two men, Duane Pelayo, 30, of Ladyville, who is self-employed, and Gerald Gillett, a security guard of Belize City, were declared dead at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after they suffered massive head and body injuries – the result of a collision between a motorcycle on which they were traveling, and a truck owned by the Belize Tourist Board.

The tragedy occurred around 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, at about Mile 7 on the Northern Highway.

Police said that the two men were traveling from Belize City towards Ladyville, when at Mile 7, they overtook a car, and were about to overtake another vehicle when the handle of the motorcycle hit the mirror of the second vehicle they were trying to overtake, causing the motorcycle driver to lose control.

The motorcycle slid across the left side of the road, into the lane of an oncoming BTB truck, and the impact of the collision flung the motorcyclists onto the highway.

The driver of the truck told police that when the collision occurred, he quickly stopped and tried to help the victims, but one man, in the middle of the road, appeared to be dead, and his companion, who was near a fence on the side of the road, was breathing, but shortly after, he took his last breath and died.

He said that the man who was in the middle of the road was lying face-down, and that the impact of the collision had crushed and torn his face, and that the other man who landed near the fence apparently suffered massive internal injuries, which were not visible, but his two feet were broken.

Police are investigating.