by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 19, 2023

On Wednesday, January 18, in a road traffic accident involving two vehicles and a stray horse that was crossing the road, the horse was decapitated and died on impact.

According to reports, at around 2:00 that afternoon, two vehicles were near Mile 24 on the George Price Highway (GPH) and were heading in the direction of Belize City. The vehicle in front, a red KIA Sportage occupied by two Mexican nationals, was en route to Chetumal when a horse drifted onto the highway and made direct impact with the KIA vehicle and died at the scene after its head was severed.

The accident also resulted in the occupants of the red vehicle receiving a variety of injuries. Meanwhile, behind them, a white vehicle, which was occupied by two elderly persons, collided with the back of the red vehicle. However, they managed to escape the accident with only minor injuries.

Police and medical personnel arrived at the scene, and all travelers were transported to the hospital for medical attention.

There have been numerous previous reports of road traffic accidents involving stray horses and other animals, and also many similar incidents that have gone unreported.

In 2020, an elderly woman from the Spanish Lookout community lost her life when a vehicle being driven by her son collided with a stray horse that wandered onto the George Price Highway in the vicinity of Camalote Village, Cayo District.

In 2011, in a non-fatal traffic accident (for the humans, at least) also involving a horse, the driver of a vehicle was heading to Belize City when the animal entered his lane on the same highway, a short distance away from Old Belize. He couldn’t avoid the horse as oncoming traffic was in the other lane, and his vehicle thus hit the animal head-on, killing it.

The driver received non-life-threatening injuries, while his three passengers received minor injuries.