Truck Driver Survives Major Highway Crash in Cayo

A tandem truck driver is lucky to be alive tonight following a serious traffic incident on the George Price Highway in the Cayo District. The crash, which occurred late last night, left a mangled truck, flatbed, and heavy equipment scattered at the scene, and triggered concerns over a potential chemical spill in the area.  Julian Sherrard, a business owner and area resident, was among the first on the scene after hearing a loud bang. Upon investigating, he discovered the wreckage. Love News Belmopan Correspondent LJay Wade spoke with Sherrard, who described what he encountered.

Julian Sherrard, Witness: “At around 10:40 last night, I heard a very loud bang from the highway, and I took a look at the security cameras and found that a big semi had gone past with a very large load on the back consisting of a bulldozer, a truck, and some sort of a pan scraper earth-moving trailer on top of it. It seems that when it came down the highway from Belize City heading towards San Ignacio it could not make the curve just over the Barton Creek Bridge and in front of Riverwalk Nursery and Hot Mamas it flipped over upside down actually and the cargo as I mentioned before ended up all over the pasture. Luckily somehow the driver seemed to have survived unscathed and walked away from the accident however I do believe that the truck and the equipment on board were almost all totaled. Perhaps the pan scraper is still good and the bulldozer is still good, but the flatbed truck that was on top of the 40 foot trailer was certainly flattened into a tortilla.”

Among the heavy equipment being transported on the trailer, Sherrard says some machinery may have been carrying chemicals, believed to be insecticides, which are thought to have spilled as a result of the impact, raising immediate environmental and safety concerns for the surrounding area.

Julian Sherrard, Witness:  “The belly of the pan scraper might have had some cases of some sort of insecticide, permethrin and bifan IT, which are both insecticides and both highly toxic to fish and aquatic life. And I think permethrin is also highly toxic to cats. Of course, it’s very toxic to humans as well. Right after the accident happened, it started to drizzle and threatened to rain.”

With a potential chemical spill on their hands, Sherrard says multiple agencies were contacted in an effort to get help to the scene. After several attempts, the Spanish Lookout Fire Department responded and was able to provide improvised assistance to help manage the situation.

Julian Sherrard, Witness: “I reached out to several different emergency organizations. I called NEMO but I didn’t get an answer. Couldn’t find a number for Department of the Environment. I tried the fire station in Santa Elena. They said they were not equipped to deal with a chemical spill. I also called BNE who certainly tried to be helpful but they called me back and said that they are not trained to deal with chemicals other than I guess oil or something like that. So they didn’t come. Thankfully, I called the Spanish Lookout Fire Department. They not only responded quickly but they understood the nature of the problem and understood when I mentioned about getting an excavator and a dump truck to excavate the contaminated soil before the rain washes it down into the creek. The creek is only about 100 yards away. So my fear was with the rain that all this chemical could get washed into the creek and obviously not only are we concerned about fish and other aquatic life but there are many people who get their water source from Barton Creek, including myself and my family, my neighbors, but also Barton Creek feeds into the Belize River. And that could have been a real catastrophe. So fortunately, the Mennonites responded very quickly and we got in an excavator at about 2:30 in the morning along with a dump truck and dug up all the dirt that showed traces of these liquids. So hats off to everybody who helped last night and into the wee hours of the morning. And certainly I think we need to do a better job at how we transport chemicals. Obviously it’s not just the grass or the soil, but it’s people.”

The matter did not end there. Sherrard says a member of the Pesticides Control Board was also contacted and subsequently visited the sanitary landfill earlier today to assess where the contaminated soil had been dumped, ensuring it would not pose a threat to people, livestock, or wildlife in the surrounding area.  Sherrard, who also serves as Chairman of the Society Hall More Force Neighborhood Watch, is using this incident as an opportunity to urge the travelling public to exercise caution near the Barton Creek Bridge area, noting that speeding in that stretch of the highway has made it a recurring accident hotspot./