Photo: Tulio Armando Rodriguez Oliva

by Charles Gladden

CHETUMAL, Mexico, Mon. Apr. 24, 2023

Just after midday on Friday, April 21, there was a fatal road traffic accident involving a Belizean taxi driver which claimed the life of a resident of Chetumal, Mexico at the intersection of Independencia and Carmen Ochoa Streets near INGEI. The Belizean taxi driver has been identified as Tulio Armando Rodriguez Oliva of Paraiso, Corozal District.

According to information from Periodismo Urbano, a Mexican media outlet, a Mexican taxi driver, Luis Alfonso Aguilar Salgado, was attempting to make a U-turn at the corner. At the same time, Rodriguez ran a stop sign, but the brakes of his vehicle failed, and his car collided with the vehicle of Salgado, killing him at the scene, and injuring an elderly woman who had been traveling with the driver.

It was reported that Salgado was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and that, according to residents of the area, Rodriguez had the right of way. Rodriguez told Mexican media that he was in Chetumal to take someone shopping, and his customer was shopping when the accident occurred.

Rodriguez was detained by Mexican authorities but was released on Monday, April 24, as the judge ruled that he was detained unfairly.