While the cane industry dispute in the north has been dominating the headlines, early this morning there was a fatal accident that once again underscored how suddenly things can go wrong.
A BSI worker was leaving the factor after a night shift when he inexplicably ran tiny the lane of an oncoming bus. Jomarie Lanza has the story:
41 year old Nestor Teck left work at 6:00 am in this Ford Escape after clocking out from a night shift at BSI.
Teck worked as a mechanic since 2015, and as he made his way down the highway at dawn, it's possible that he may have fallen asleep behind the wheel, but, the report is that he drove straight into this S&B bus headed for Belize City. The owner of the Bus line that started operating a little over a year ago, spoke with us at the scene this morning, as a tow truck was prepping to haul away his latest investment damaged beyond repair.
Jo-
"When you first arrived what did you see?"
Isaias Blanco, Owner of S&B Busline
"Well I see just people coming out from the bus everybody's is frightened and what I did I called 911 for the ambulance and the police to come yeah."
Jo-
"And when you spoke with your driver what did he explain to you?"
Isaias Blanco, Owner of S&B Busline
"He called me as soon as the accident happened and I heard the people screaming on the bus."
"So I was staying here in Orange walk and when he called me he said I need to come and see. But when I received the call I just heard the commotion in the bus saying yes open the windows come out from the windows. And everything, so I was asking him what was happening but he was unable to answer because of the situation. So afterwards, I thought that the boss was on fire or something because he was telling the customers to open the windows so afterwards, he told me that he had gotten in an accident so I rushed to the scene."
It was a routine 6:00Am run for Blanco's driver Nathaniel Correa. He told us that by the time, Teck swerved into his lane, there was very little he could have done to avoid the collision.
Nathaniel Correa, Driver of S&B Busline
"The vehicle just passed suddenly passed by my side when I tried to avoid it I couldn't do nothing to it."
Jo-
"When you ended up on the side of the road were you injured?"
Nathaniel Correa, Driver of S&B Busline
"Yes I feel my back it pains me right now."
Jo-
"And the passengers as well?"
Nathaniel Correa, Driver of S&B Busline
"Yeah."
Jo-
"How does it make you feel to know you survived something like this it could have been worse."
Nathaniel Correa, Driver of S&B Busline
"I feel bad because this is a pain to the next family too."
And while the Teck family declined comment, Blanco has to deal with the passengers who were injured. So far 5 out of the 10 injured have reached out to him for assistance.
Jo
"I understand that some of your passengers also got hurt."
Isaias Blanco, Owner of S&B Busline
"Yeah, some of them have called me and I told them that I will check on the insurance and see how we can help them. We have about five of them that got in contact with me and I told them that I will get their names and see how we can assist them."
We'll let you know if the bus driver will be charged as police continue to investigate.
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