_{Photo: Kunal Wadhwani, deceased}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Mar. 19, 2024

Two men from different sections of the country were killed within 48 hours in separate road traffic accidents.

The first accident took place between Miles 1 and 2 of the Coastal Highway on Sunday, March 17, and cost 25-year-old Kunal Wadhwani his life. Meanwhile, the other happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning, March 19, in Guinea Grass Village, Orange Walk District, killing 54-year-old Maximo Chan, an employee of Medina Construction.

In the first traffic accident, Wadhwani was behind the wheel of a Honda Odyssey minivan which was also occupied by two passengers – 23-year-old Sagar Lawani, and 23-year-old Chetan Pritmani. The men, all from Belize City, were on the road travelling in the direction of the intersection which connects to the George Price Highway when they suffered a blowout to the van’s right front tire which caused Wadhwani to lose control.

The minivan wound up in a culvert badly damaged, with Wadhwani dying at the scene, and Lawani and Pritmani were taken to the Western Regional Hospital for treatment.

Additional reports indicate that the minivan was operating with a spare tire at the time of the incident.

In the second fatal accident, at around 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Maximo Chan was crossing the road to board a bus near the entrance of Guinea Grass Village when he was struck by a pickup truck driven at the time by 24-year-old Roberto Deudanes who was travelling in the direction from Shipyard to Orange Walk Town.

Chan suffered head and body injuries and perished at the scene. Relatives indicated that Chan had boarded the bus just minutes before, but dismounted because he had forgotten an item at home and had gone to retrieve it. Additionally, they said that he would normally stay in Belize City during the week for work, but had returned home due to a family emergency.

Police are investigating the circumstances of both traffic accidents, and Deudanes is in police custody, having been served with a notice of intended prosecution.