Photo: Julio Escobar, deceased
by Kory Leslie (Freelance Writer)
Belize City, Sat. Dec. 24, 2022
Rainy weather over the weekend resulted in flash floods that caused the tragic death of one tour guide and trauma for hundreds of tourists who were being taken on cave tube tours along Belize’s rivers. While forecasts did indicate that heavy rainfall was expected during the long weekend, bookings had been made for various river and cave tours in certain portions of the country such as the Cayo District.
Julio Escobar, 39, a tour guide who had been employed at the Ian Anderson Caves Branch Jungle Lodge for almost twenty years, was conducting one of those tours on Christmas Eve (Saturday) near Mile 41 on the Hummingbird Highway when a flash flood occurred, and he was flung from his tube. Some reports have suggested that it was a fallen tree trunk that set in motion the sequence of events that led to his being dislodged from the tube and swept away by the river’s current, which led to his drowning. That, however, has not been confirmed.
What the communications director of the Belize Police Department, ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, has indicated, however, is that Escobar had been attempting to lead the tourists to a more shallow section of the river, but while crossing the river he was overpowered by the river’s currents. In a press briefing on Tuesday, Yearwood explained, “About 11:30 a.m., Julio Escobar and two other tour guides and some guests were in that area somewhere upstream in the river that began to rise rapidly. The tour guides attempted to move towards a more shallow area that they believed they could have crossed the river, but Escobar disappeared, and he was flung from his tube where he disappeared in the water.”
According to Yearwood, when attempts to locate Escobar failed, Astrum helicopter services was contracted to hover over the water and try to pinpoint the spot in the river where Escobar could be found. Yearwood said that at about 8:00 that night, “the pilot of that helicopter and the search party believe they saw a body in the river not too far from the area where Mr. Escobar disappeared. They managed to retrieve him from the river and he was transported to the Western Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by a medical officer around 9:30 p.m.”
Similar incidents reportedly occurred during other tours in the district, although no other lives were lost. Two hundred tourists and tour guides had been taking a tour through the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Caves in the Roaring Creek River, but when they emerged from the river, they found that the level of the water had risen a few feet. The tour guides responded by joining their efforts and using some emergency routes. They had also deployed ropes to keep the tourists and themselves secure as they crossed the river, and had also received canoes from the Chaa Creek resort to transport some scared tourists across the river.
One tour guide, Oscar Carbajal, told 7News, “It started normal. Water was low, nice and clear, and everybody went and did their tour. Coming out is when we, because you have to cross this river three times before you get to the cave. As we came out, flash flood. Luckily for us, we have a, what you call emergency trail, so it goes around the hillside and it boycotts two crossings. This last one here, you can’t dodge. Luckily too we have a brotherhood of guides, and we all pool our resources together when it comes to things like that, and so we started to get our canoes and life vests, and some were strong swimmers and some struggled, but luckily we all got out safe.”
Another tour guide, Francisco Raymundo, further explained, “I had a good knowledge what to do. I was calm, keep guests calm, and help the guys to bring people across the stream. It was easy for me. We had to cut through a big part of the trail since Hurricane Lisa. The trail was not visible, so we had to cut down a nice part of the trail until we met the trail we normally cross, and we got here and the other guides were all waiting for us on the other side waiting for assistance. People were already crossing, the rope that was attached, it was easy. Just some challenges with guests that were uncomfortable. We made sure they had jackets and everything was normal, calm.”