BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 6, 2019– Jamiri Guy, 10, and her sister, Kimberly Guy, 8, were with their mother, Rosalie Catch, 27, a housekeeper of Xaibe Village, and their stepfather, Jaime Interiano, 35, a baker of Caye Caulker who is originally from Progresso, Corozal District, and 30 other passengers onboard a water taxi waiting to ride home to Caye Caulker at about 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, when the boat captain stepped onboard and started the engines, and there was a terrible explosion, the force of which killed the little girls and injured many passengers and crew.
The little girls suffered massive head and body injuries and they both died on the boat. Their mother suffered burns to her left elbow and right calf and their stepfather suffered injuries to his right foot and right hand. They are presently being treated at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH). Interiano was admitted in a serious but stable condition, and his wife Rosalie was released after receiving treatment.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Alejandro Cowo, said that Interiano and his family were sitting in the rear of the boat, near the engine area, when the explosion occurred. Thirty-four people were onboard and others were boarding when the engine exploded. They all suffered varying degrees of injury.
When police arrived on the scene they saw a number of people with varying degrees of burns and fractures. The two little girls were already dead.
Cowo said that they went to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, and the Belize Medical Associates hospital to observe and talk to the patients. At the KHMH they saw Lauria Gatte, 50, a Canadian tourist, with both feet swollen; Santiago Guzman, 30, a worker of Caye Caulker, with cut wounds to the left foot; and Trudy Rulef, who suffered fractures to both legs. At Belize Medical Associates, they saw Paul Jensen, 43, an American tourist, with cut wounds to the left ankle and right shin; Brie Jensen, 16, an American tourist who had a cut wound to the right calf and complained of pain to the lower back; Christina Lowry, 49, an American tourist with burns to the face, neck, both feet and hands, and a cut wound to the back of the head; and Joseph Lee, 56, an American, with burns to both legs and his right arm.
Police told us that some of the passengers had been treated and released from the hospital. Some of them had gone to Caye Caulker and San Pedro, and some had flown back to their home country to seek medical attention. An intense investigation has been launched to find out what caused the explosion and the boat has since been taken to the Old Belize dock where a detailed inspection will be carried out by the Belize Coast Guard, the Port Authority and personnel from the Police Department.
People in the area who saw what happened told us that the water taxi had already made two trips to San Pedro that day, and was about to conduct its third trip when the explosion took place. On our visit to the scene yesterday the boat was still docked at the marina, and the area had been cordoned off by police. A security guard told us that shortly after the explosion the police, an ambulance and rescuers went to the boat. A mechanic at the scene told us that there were many conspiracy theories about the cause of the explosion — stories about sabotage, but the explosion could have occurred due to a number of other reasons, including a faulty or leaking battery and fuel pressure buildup in the engine.
Mr. Young, the manager of the Ocean Ferry Water Taxi, told us today that they had recently taken over the company and that they had one boat, and it was undergoing repairs, so they were forced to rent boats from other companies to do their runs. He said the boat was rented from a company in Caye Caulker, and it was used to carry out regular runs from Caye Caulker to Chetumal, Mexico, three times per week, and also for private charters. He said that Sunday was the boat’s off day and that’s how they were able to contract it to do the runs from Belize City to San Pedro. He said his company is assisting and working with those persons affected in the incident.
Young said an estimate of damages and other requirements had not yet been made known to him. This tragedy, he said, will impact his company severely because they have just started the operation. Young expressed sadness for what had happened and said this is the first time that they experienced such devastation, however they will resume operations to provide the service and aim to achieve as much normalcy in their runs as they can.
Police Commissioner Chester Williams said that they initially thought that the explosion came from a device that was set on board, and they immediately tried to get a bomb expert from the Belize Defence Force to investigate the matter.
Preliminary findings by the investigators seem to indicate that gas vapors in the area of the tank ignited when the captain started the engines, and this caused the explosion. Experts say it was fortunate that the fuel tanks didn’t explode, because the scale of the devastation would have been even wider and more severe.
Feature photo: (l-r) Rosalie Catch, Jamiri Guy, Kimberly Guy and Jaime Interiano