A road traffic accident on the Philip Goldson Highway claimed the life of Jorge Vargas, 21, a sixth-form student of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, and as many as six persons were severely injured when an ambulance crashed into the mini-bus in which they were traveling back home to Corozal.
by Charles Gladden
RANCHITO, Corozal District, Thurs. Oct. 13, 2022
A collision between an ambulance and a mini-bus between Miles 82 and 83 of the Philip Goldson Highway in Ranchito Village, Corozal, caused injuries to a number of students and a sick minor, and claimed the life of a sixth-form student of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, Jorge Vargas, 21. Vargas and four other students had been traveling in a mini-bus en route to Corozal Town, where his mother was waiting to pick him up, when an ambulance which was carrying a sick minor and was heading in the opposite direction, crashed into the vehicle.
The collision occurred when the ambulance, which was transporting the sick minor and her mother from the Corozal Community Hospital to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, attempted to overtake a truck and collided head-on with the mini-bus, which was being driven by Carmelo Kau, 49, and was taking the students to Corozal Town after a day of classes.
(Notably, while reports have mentioned that the ambulance was overtaking a truck, it is known that incoming traffic must pull over to the side of the road, thus allowing a vehicle being used by first responders, such as an ambulance, to pass through. On Thursday, October 13, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, noted at a police press briefing that many Belizean drivers have shown a reluctance to do so. “That’s one of the issues we have here in Belize. Only in Belize do certain things happen. We know already that once you hear the ambulance, the police, or the fire siren, it means that you must clear the way for an emergency, and certain drivers just have no regard [for] that and would want to race with the ambulance or with the police or the fire truck, which is wrong,” Williams said.
It has been reported that a total of twelve persons were injured — including the driver of the ambulance, Louis Canelo, 33, and the nurses who were accompanying him.
One of the first persons to arrive at the scene was the Dean of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, Hugo Gonzalez, who told members of the local media that he was alerted by a teacher of the school about the accident.
“When I got there, some of the students had already been transported to the Corozal Community Hospital, then I saw the body of Jorge Vargas was still on the scene of the accident,” he said.
While Vargas died at the scene, three other students of Centro Escolar Mexico Junior College, as well as a student at another institution, sustained serious injuries.
According to Gonzalez, the condition of one of those students, Anthony Tzib, who is from Patchakan Village, seems promising, since Tzib, who was taken to the Corozal Community Hospital, recognized Gonzalez when he went to the hospital and “called [him] by name”. According to Gonzalez, another injured student, Armando Patt, was transported yesterday morning from the Corozal Community Hospital and is now being treated at the Northern Regional Hospital..
The third student, however, Aaliyah Marokin, 20, suffered multiple fractures — including to the hip, arm and leg— as well as abrasions to her head. Her family was reportedly told at the Northern Regional Hospital that she would need emergency surgery by a specialist. and she was thus transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but according to the family, she did not receive the urgent surgery when she arrived at the KHMH but was placed on a waiting list and given morphine. She will thus be at home for as long as three weeks before the surgery takes place, and the family is distressed about the further harm she could suffer as a result of the delay.
“When she reached to Belize, they told her they would just give her morphine for the pain, bandage her hand, her leg, and they told her they would not be doing any surgery and that she would be on a waiting list and this surgery could potentially take place until end of month’s time. Now, she’s a 20-year-old with her whole life there — what if any complications happen, infections, happen. She has a broken leg, a broken hand, and all you can do is just bandage it? We need reasons as to why she’s on a waiting list…. telling us a waiting list, telling a mother who had previously went through a loss that her next child is there crying out of pain and all you could give her is morphine to put her to sleep, and if she gets addicted to this drug, what are we going to do?,” a relative of Marokin lamented to 7News.
The family is reportedly seeking possible assistance from other medical facilities or private practitioners and is asking the Ministry of Health to intervene.
The fourth injured student, Jaheem Williams, was reportedly in and out of consciousness and reportedly received an emergency CT scan when he was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
Vargas would have graduated with honors in December, when he would have received an Associate’s degree in Business Entrepreneurship, and the school is planning to have a program tribute in his honor and to issue an honorary Associate’s degree to his parents at the graduation ceremony.
Dr. Rafael Riveroll, a cousin of the deceased, told local media, “Right now, he was doing Business and he was trying to finish up sixth form because due to difficulties then, now they managed to send him to finish sixth form, so that was his main goal, and I think right now it’s more heartbreaking to find out that he did achieve his 3.0, honor roll, and he did receive some awards just day before yesterday.”
According to Gonzalez, there is currently a sorrowful mood on the campus of the college.
“When we got here this morning, a lot of the students were very sad. Some came to offer their condolences. Teachers are going through a very difficult time coming to accept the fact that he is no longer with us. In the history of our school, this is the second student we have lost [in] the fifteen years we have been in operation. Some teachers couldn’t really have a class, especially his homeroom had to undergo some sessions with the counselor during the course of the day because they were very unstable and could not concentrate,” he said.
According to Riveroll, Vargas would routinely be at home after classes at 2:30 p.m., but on the day of the accident, Vargas contacted his mother to inform her that he would be late, as he needed to stay and prepare for a presentation at school. He was to have called his mother at 3:30 p.m. to notify her of his arrival so that she could pick him up at My Lights, but it was a call that she would never receive.
Dr. Riveroll mentioned to local reporters that Vargas was very active in the community. He recently participated in the Corozal Carnival and was a well-known athlete who played for Pelican FC, an amateur football club in Corozal.
AMANDALA was able to speak to a teammate of Vargas, Abner Itzab, who told us that the two were both members of the Pelicans FC and that their bond grew when they became classmates at CEMJC.
Itzab said that Vargas had the drive to become the best player on the team, but was also willing to assist his friends — both on the football field and in the classroom.
On Wednesday, October 12, the Ministry of Health and Wellness sent its condolences to the family and friends of those affected by the tragedy via a press release and strongly condemned irresponsible driving on the highways.
The Director of Public Prosecution’s office will issue recommendations on whether charges will be brought against any of the drivers in connection with the collision.