A forty-two –year-old carpenter of Belize City was killed in what appears to be an accidental electrocution.
Today, at around 6:35 a.m., the lifeless body of Emilio Antonio “Mendoza” Orellano was found in a swamp a couple feet away from his house.
Apparently, the deceased had arrived home sometime after midnight, only to find the house in darkness.
He then asked his wife what was wrong with the connection, and his wife told him that the electrical connection needed to be fixed.
The wife then saw him exit the house and thinking that he was upset, thought that he had gone out, so she went to bed, not knowing that Orellano had gone to fix the connection.
But while standing in the swamp and attempting to reconnect the two wires, he was electrocuted.
The tragic news came early the next morning, when the wife, still not knowing the whereabouts of her husband, asked a neighbor and also Orellano’s best friend, to fix the connection.
The friend agreed, but as he approached the house, he was shocked at what he saw – a pale Orellano lying in the swamp, apparently dead, with a pair of pliers clutched in his hand.
The tragic death has shaken the entire Jerusalem community and today, the man who fist found the body, Ese, spoke to us about the tragic and sorrowful incident.
“Early this morning, I woke up and his wife called me to fix the connection. I told her that I would do it in awhile. Well, I was making my way over to her house and then I saw my best friend in the swamp. Almost his entire body was in the swamp, and I could only see his face, and the pliers in his hand.”
“I then told his wife, It’s Mendoza”.
“It is so painful, he was a good man, my friend, this is so sad,” said Ese.
The community of Jerusalem is poverty-stricken .The entire area is swamp, and those who live there can only access their homes by means of an old broken bridge.
The situation is rather serious and one that needs to be addressed.
Basic needs such as water are not available, and apparently, the entire community is in need of electricity.
A resident and pioneer of the community, “King Black,” said that he was the first to have moved to the area.
Today he is rather upset at what has happened. He wants the government to focus on the area and to realize that the people of Jerusalem are in need of roads, among other necessities.
“We have been neglected; most of the people living here are surviving on “ketch and kill.”
“Roads need to be built so that people can connect their meters.”
We were also told that in the past, a dog was also electrocuted in the swampy area.
Further investigation by police into the matter, has revealed that the deceased was under the influence of alcohol, while attempting to reconnect the two wires.
“Investigations also revealed that Orellano arrived home under the influence of alcohol and argued with his common law wife, Carmita Tasher, about not having electricity at home.
“He then left for the swamp and said that he was going to repair the wire for the electricity but never came back. Sometime about 6:30 a.m. on 23/6/10 he was found lying down, face up in a swamp apparently dead.” said police in a press release dated June 24, 2010.