The Belize New River is one of the longest and most trafficked waterways
in Belize; and that’s because it leads to Lamanai Mayan site. But the
villagers who live along the river also use it plentifully and that’s
where a Guinea Grass father and his two sons got into terrible trouble yesterday.
They braved rough waters because they had to; the family depends on firewood
and every weekend the father and his sons go and get it. But yesterday, things
went wrong in the worst way. Jacqueline
Godwin went north to find out more.
Elias Vicente Reynoso, Father of Drown Victim
“It happen too quick it. It didn’t give me time to…I had
just had to grab my child and try to fight as hard as I can to take him out
to the edge. But the real thing is that I didn’t accept if this is reality
or just a dream for me.”
Elias Vicente Reynoso is struggling to accept the reality that his twelve year
old son Alex Reynoso is dead. At one thirty this afternoon, the teenagers’
body was discovered lying on the bottom of the New River. In the same location
where his family’s canoe capsized around two on Sunday afternoon
From all accounts what happened 6 miles up the New River can only be described
as a freak accident but a tragic one that took the life of 12 year old Alex
Reynoso. Elias Vicente Reynoso, fourteen year old Emmanuel Reynoso and twelve
year old Alex Reynoso had left their residence in guinea grass village situated
in the Orange Walk District to collect firewood…a chore the father and
his teenaged sons did every weekend.
Elias Vicente Reynoso, Father of Drown Victim
“I went to cut some fire wood and returning home, the boat capsized. 
The only thing I can do to hold my son and take him to shore. But I couldn’t
manage to take him and I did whatever I could to save my son. I couldn’t
reach the shore because I was wearing work clothes, rubber boots and that is
what took me down. My eldest son who knows how to swim made it to shore. I was
trying to help my other son, I do not have enough words to express myself. God
knows what he did. He gave me my sons and he took my son away from me.
But I did not expect this to happen. My youngest son did not know how to
swim, he got frightened. He knew a little bit how to swim but he got frightened.
He got desperate and my son could not do anything.”
Today we found a team from the Belize National Coast Guard and villagers diving
for the young man’s body. Weather conditions and a wide body of area to
search made the recovery difficult. According to Lt. Greg Soberanis, Operations
Manager of the BNCG - there was poor visibility underwater as the divers could
not see beyond the length of their arm.
Lt. Greg Soberanis, Operations Manager – BNCG
“The current is not that strong at this time but the water is extremely
cold, we’ve tremendous support from the residents and community of Guinea
Grass.”
And it was that community spirit that kept Elias Reynoso calm under much distress
as he prayed for his son’s body to be found.
Elias Vicente Reynoso,
“But I feel happy I have friends helping me find my son, all the guys
are here helping me to find the body of my son. All I know is that he is dead
but at least I want to find his body.”
According to Elisa Reynoso from what he remembers on their way back from cutting
and loading the firewood in the canoe, the water was rough and as they crossed
the New River he slowed down the vessel but as the bow of the canoe dipped a
wave crashed onboard causing the small vessel to turn over. According to Elisa
Reynoso he does not believe the canoe was overloaded. He says the cargo was
light and there were only three of them in the boat. But one disturbing revelation
is that there were no life vests onboard. The father says because it was a routine
activity it never thought that such an accident would have occurred.
Elias Vicente Reynoso,
“The truth is that I was very careful and we had none. I took good
care of them and I was very vigilant I took my time coming down but I did not
expect this to happen and this is what happened. No one was in the area to help.
I did not have too much load and I do not know how this happen because the boat
was not overfull.”
Today the Belize National Coast Guard cautions all those venturing out on the
water to make sure their vessels are properly equipped with life vests to avoid
such tragedies.
Lt. Greg Soberanis,
“We definitely encourage people who use our waterways to always think
safety first. Sometimes it is not always on our minds, because it is a way of
life we do things and it becomes the norm but safety is always a factor that
must be considered when operating in our waterways.”
Alex Reynoso was also not a good swimmer. His body now awaits a post mortem
examination at the morgue at Northern Regional Hospital. Reporting for 7News
Jacqueline Godwin.
The Reynoso family would also like to thank Errol Cadle the owner of
Lamanai Eco Tours who provided the boat and resources to make the search and
recovery possible.
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