by Charles Gladden
CONCEPCION VILLAGE, Corozal District, Wed. Oct. 18, 2023
Early on Wednesday morning, October 18, a man from northern Belize was fatally hit by a bus between Miles 73 and 74 on the Philip Goldson Highway in Concepcion Village, Corozal District. The deceased was identified as Luis Cob, 40, of Santa Clara Village, also known in the community as “Boot”.
Initial reports are indicating that shortly before the tragic accident, Cob had been discharged from the Corozal Community Hospital and was still suffering abdominal pain when he decided to walk to his home in the village in the wee hours of that morning.
Sometime around 5:00 a.m. Cob was walking along the side of the highway when he reportedly attempted to cross the road. At the same time, a bus belonging to Morales Transport, which was driven at the time by Fernando Aban, 25, of San Joaquin Village, Corozal District, was traveling along that portion of the highway from Corozal Town as it headed to Orange Walk Town, and it fatally struck Cob, who died shortly after on the pavement.
His body was transported to the Corozal Community Hospital.
Luis Cob’s aunt, Cruzita Cob spoke to the local media in Spanish (which was translated into English) and said she was notified by persons at the scene of the accident that Aban had not stopped the bus after hitting Cob.
“He was coming to me walking, and that was when he got hit by the bus. [A man at the scene] said that he went to pick up my nephew’s body from the road and saw that it was a Morales bus, and the bus never stopped and see what it did. Instead, the car that was coming from behind the bus ended up picking up my nephew and took him to the hospital,” she said.
Cob’s aunt went on to add, “The person that hit him didn’t even have the senses to stop the bus and see what he done. All we are asking is for them to help us bury him. We don’t have anything. We don’t want this to go to court, and we are not those persons who put a price on someone. We want him to admit fault and help us with a proper burial.”
Even though Cruzita Cob is the deceased’s aunt, she refers to him as her son because of the close relationship the two had, with him growing up with her as a child, and she would regularly take him in during his time of need.
“I always say that he’s my son because he was with me from a child and to now. I’m with him through the rough times, and a lot of things have happened to him, but I stayed with him throughout his entire life,” she said.
“… He always used to say that I’m his mother. He always treated me like his mother, and he would always give me what he had. He always told me, ‘Aunty, you’re my everything. I love you. You always take care of me. You scold me when I’m rude, when I don’t want to understand’”, she continued.
Cob said that the news won’t be shared as yet with the deceased’s biological mother because she is very sick and the news could lead to her death. Some Santa Clara Village residents have speculated that Cob was probably intoxicated at the time he was hit by the bus, but Cruzita Cob dismissed those allegations, since he had left the hospital shortly before the accident took place, as mentioned earlier.
Cob made a living by repairing electronics despite being handicapped. He leaves behind two sons.