The son of Fred Hunter, nephew of Sir Alexander “Sandy” Hunter, and operations manager at Bowen and Bowen car rental franchise never had a chance to live
The families of former PUP Minister of Government and Sir Alexander “Sandy” Hunter and his brother and former PUP Minister Fredrick “Fred” Hopkins Hunter, and the family and many friends of Fred Hunter’s son, Anthony “Tony” Hunter, 52, are mourning the loss of Tony, who was killed in a tragic road traffic collision that occurred about 9:00 Saturday morning between Miles 2 and 3 on the George Price Highway.
Tony was travelling on his motorcycle from Hattieville to Belize City when he reportedly collided with the rear of a backhoe between San Foam Factory and the highway’s junction with the entrance into Linda Vista Estate.
Tony, operations manager for a car rental franchise bought by Bowen and Bowen, died at the scene, and was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
A witness who lives near the scene of the accident told Amandala that she was in her house when she heard a loud bang, and when she looked out, she saw a man lying on the road in front of her driveway. The motorcycle on which he had been travelling was across the road in the drain and a backhoe was about 20 feet away from where the body was lying.
She said that only a portion of his face remained, while the rest – including the tissue and blood from inside his skull – was splattered on the driver of the backhoe and on the equipment. She said that the backhoe usually goes into the Linda Vista area, but when she saw it, it was about 20 feet from the junction of Linda Vista, facing Belize City.
Police reports are that about 8:15 Saturday morning, they responded to reports of a road traffic collision that occurred between a motorcycle and a backhoe, between Miles 2 and 3 on the George Price Highway. On their arrival on the scene, they saw a yellow Caterpillar backhoe tractor belonging to CISCO Construction Company, with its right rear wheel flat and the rim dented.
In the middle of the road was a man who was already dead, whose body was covered with a sheet. Across the road in the drain, across from the body was an extensively damaged motorcycle, a Kawasaki Z 1000.
The driver of the backhoe reported to police that while he was traveling towards Belize City from the CISCO Construction Company, the motorcycle which was being driven at high speed, slammed into the rear of the backhoe, causing the driver to be thrown down onto the pavement and the cycle onto the road.
The body was later identified as that of Anthony “Tony” Hunter of Dolphin Drive, Belize City. A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) has been served to the driver of the tractor.
The tractor was returned to the CISCO Construction Company at the conclusion of the investigation, but the badly damaged motorbike is at the Racoon Street Police Station.
A traffic investigator said that the front of the bike slammed the backhoe, and the impact hurled the driver into the backhoe, causing massive injury to his face and head, after which the driver landed on the pavement.
Tony’s many friends on the social network, FaceBook, said that Tony will be missed. He was also a rider with Harley Davidson and Black Pearl groups, who paid tribute to him on FaceBook.
After Tony’s remains are cremated tomorrow, Tuesday, funeral services are to be held for him on Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., at Divine Mercy Church.
His wife, Pamela, 50, was in Honduras when the accident happened. They have three sons – Anthony, Jr., 28; Michael, 27; and Scott, 12.