7 News Belize

Record: Two Quadruple Fatalities In Five Days
posted (November 30, 2023)

Tonight four more families from another village in the West are grieving after a road traffic accident claimed the life of four construction workers. This is the second time in five days that we are reporting on a quadruple fatality - which is a first for this newsroom. Today Jomarie Lanza went into Santa Elena San Ignacio town to speak with the grieving families. Here's what they shared with us today.

What should have been a routine commute from Belmopan to San Ignacio Santa Elena for a group of 7 construction workers, ended in tragedy just after 6:00 yesterday evening. Noel Pineda was behind the wheel of this Isuzu truck, with Matias Gonzalez, Ian Harrison Mahler, Christian Lobos, Eric delgado, Melvin Ramos and Ostocio Garcia all aboard his truck, when this White Dodge pickup truck attempted to overtake two vehicles and ended up colliding into the workers' truck causing them to flip multiple times and land in this ditch on the side of the road.

Gonzalez, Mahler, and Pineda all died at the scene, and given the state of the wreckage one wouldn't believe that the other three passengers would have survived.

But, somehow Eric Delgado did, and today he stood before us and shared the chilling tale of how he almost never made it home alive last night.

Eric Delgado, Survivor
"We were doing construction in Belmopan with Mr Pete but coming back like I said the vehicle coming behind us the white Dodge wanted to overtake but when he did he already saw a bus coming in front of us and he still wanted to come into our row. So when he came into our road he threw us out of the road and we ended up in the drain and flipped in the air 4 times. And my next guy who flew in the air died on the spot. Four of them died on the spot and ended up at the bottom of the vehicle too. It's not a joke but that guy had the fault."

"What ran through my mind was the driver. He just looked at me and talked to me and when he did he closed his eyes and that's all I saw, I saw the four of them die. The other one is in the hospital with his leg split open."

Reporter:
"After the accident happened and you had to wait for an ambulance and people to arrive, how were you feeling?"

Eric Delgado, Survivor
"I was feeling a way because I had a body beside me, my friend died in my lap. With his head open, with a big split in his head yeah."

"At that moment I didn't feel pain but when I got to the hospital I started to feel pain my hand is swollen see it's big too yeah.

Reporter:
"How does it make you feel knowing that you survived something like this and four of your friends died?"

Eric Delgado, Survivor
"I was shocked when I saw all of that I was shocked. I was shocked because when I noticed everybody died it was just me and another guy that lived only three of us lived but I'm the only one walking right now while the other two are in the hospital."

It's a scene Delgado says he keeps playing over and over in his mind. One thing he is sure of though is that this fatal accident was not as a result of their carelessness out on the road.

Eric Delgado, Survivor "We don't have the fault we don't have the fault we weren't smoking or drinking the ones who have the fault is the driver and everyone can say the driver had the fault because he overtaked and he wrenched off my boss man's door. He went with his hand. All of this was torn off my boss man's hand. We can't have the fault he has the fault. And they ran away to the young guy driving the vehicle ran away. They didn't stop, they were jumpy so they ran away and police grabbed them. They took him wet up to the hospital. That's how i recognized him and I told him you're the one who killed my four guys but he couldn't even talk he was shocked and couldn't even speak."

And when we visited the grieving families today we learned that these men have left a string of broken hearts in every home. The daughter of Matias Gonzlez, says that the relationship she shared with her dad meant the world to her.

Yessenia González, Daughter of Deceased
"He was I can say the best dad in the world he was loving. I'm out of words to describe my dad. He was the best person in the world. He was a very humble person and everyone who knew him knew he was humble, funny and always trying to make people laugh. I was very close to him. We spoke everyday even though he didn't live with us but my dad was everything, just one call away one ring he would answer everyday. I use to contact him."

"I'm out of words this is the worst pain that someone could go through especially when you're very very close to that loved one we are I don't know very heart broken."

And from a now fatherless daughter to another grieving mother, Christian Lobos's mother, the youngest life to be claimed, is crippled by the reality that her son never made it home safely as he routinely would.

Neima Lobos Gutierrez,Mother of Deceased
"El se va todo los día temprano y bebe en la tarde. Mi hijo es ningún hijo problemático nada mi hijo, todo que están aquí lo conocen. Mi hijo viene de trabaja y va directo en su cama a ve su phone y oí su TikTok y oye que está riendo solo está viendo su tiktok el de nada. Jueves como Hoy es su día a fue a jugar futbol por que el jugaba futbol se va a jugar futbol pero desde que viene recto a bañar y comer y se va a dormir. El no es nada que van a la calle no."

"Pero ayer cuando mi esposo recibió el News y no sabemos no sabemos solo nos cuentan los dicen pero en realidad nosotros no sabemos lo que paso nosotros solos estamos. Y yo se que mi hijo no está conmigo me duele por que. No se quiere a todos mis hijos mis hijos son mi vida entera yo sin mis hijos no soy nada y ahora ya me quitaron uno se me fue no como ya puede vivir solo con su recuerdo de mi hijo."

Only 15 days post op, Lobos's mother must now find the extra strength to not only heal from her illness but also find the strength to bury her only son.

And when we paid a visit to Noel Pineda's home we learned that his wife isn't the only mother grappling to find the strength to tell their kids that their dad won't be coming home.

Damaris Ayala, Wife of Deceased "What can I say a very hardworking man very responsible and a great dad. And this has me very very bad. Speechless, speechless because of the way it happened I'm mad at the same time and disappointed that this driver we see many cases of this happening here and then we don't know anything and I just hope that this time they do something about it. And I'm really sorry about the rest too my condolences to the families and to the ones in the hospital right now fighting for their lives."

Reporter: "When we spoke to the other families they told us that the other vehicle had the fault"

Damaris Ayala, Wife of Deceased
"Yeah one of the survivors explained to us that they saw the vehicle over taking the other cars and by the time they noticed this truck or i don't know couldn't get back in his lane to the road where he was supposed to go so it was his fault the survivors explained to us that they had no fault that this man was over taking more than one vehicle cause they saw it and he tried to avoid it. He was the driver he tried to avoid it but it was too late."

"I mean it's hard for all of them parents wife kids waiting for their dad to come home and they didn't arrive."

Reporter:
"And when was the last time you spoke to him or what was the conversation like?"

Damaris Ayala, Wife of Deceased
"That's what gets me even more sad because it was yesterday morning and the night before we were just talking about this that life is so short and I never expected that he wouldn't have come back home yesterday."

She says that at this point she can only hope that stricter traffic measures will be put into place to prevent more families from experiencing the heartbreak they have had to endure as a result of this tragedy

Damaris Ayala, Wife of Deceased
"I just hope they do something about this because they know who it is they got him they have him detained so I don't know if he will come out in two or three days like usually what happens every time. They just have him there for a while and then they let them go and this is why this continues to happen kids get knocked down and they don't do anything. There are reckless drivers out there drinking and they don't do anything that's why this continues. They are supposed to put something on patrol or something and check because many people are overtaking cars and they don't even care they don't know that they leave kids without their dads. Us as adults we can take it but kids children especially my ones they are very small and from yesterday they have been asking where's daddy? Where's daddy? I just don't have anymore words I can't say anything."

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