A quiet day in Placencia turned tragic on Tuesday when a man drowned just steps from the shore. Witnesses say the man had been fishing near the beach when, in a matter of moments, he was seen floating face down in the water. One nearby resident didn’t hesitate. He rushed to the scene and desperately tried to revive the man, performing CPR in a valiant effort to save his life. Sadly, it was too late. We spoke with Nevin Duran, who witnessed the rescue attempt. He described the chilling moment he realized something was wrong and the heroic actions that followed.
On the Phone: Nevin Duran, Witness
“I was looking around and like me and my brother race going like towards Barefoot. And we came back that, that took us like five minutes and when we came back we saw the, guy that lives right in front, he was pulling the guy out of the water. We tried to run and asked what happened? And he said I don’t know. He was just perfectly fine swimming and once of a sudden he was just like, face down in the water. It was past like a minute and he was like shocked and went to see if he was fine. He was binging the guy out of the water. I ran to him, me and my brother, and we both asked him like, what happened? And he’s performing CPR trying to bring back the guy. But it wasn’t working. That was going on for ten minutes. And I was just standing there because, I can’t do nothing. I can’t really do nothing. There is like this guy performing CPR and me and my brother just standing there. And so he is okay, one of you guys gotta help me take him to the shade, so my brother didn’t want to really do anything because he like in shock standing there. So I like put my shoes down on my phone. And then we took him to the coconut tree where there was like a shed. And I left him there. The guy that was performing CPR, he continued doing it, so like more people surrounded and they called the police, and the police arrived and they like tried to help the situation, but like I had to come to work, so I left, like right after the police came by.”
At this time, the identify of the victim remains unknown.
A grieving father in Bella Vista is sounding the alarm after a hidden danger in the local river claimed the life of his fourteen-year-old daughter. Eliza Pop was swimming in the river when she suddenly disappeared beneath the surface. Her father, Alfredo Pop, says she stepped into a deep pit dug into the riverbed, one that was far deeper than expected. Despite efforts to save her, Eliza tragically drowned. These pits, often dug with permission for various purposes, are supposed to be around four feet deep. But in this case, Alfredo believes the pit was much deeper and far more dangerous. Now, he’s urging the community to speak out against digging these pits in areas where families and children swim.
Alfredo Pop
Alfredo Pop, Father of Deceased
“They were bathing inside the shallow place, but now when she step several, like three meter from the riverside, she never know that she found a deep place there where the escavator dig almost like 25 feet deep. So when she, when she put the foot now, she sink right in there. So that’s what happened with my daughter, because it’s sad because, you know, I felt a big glass because she’s the only one. Because like I say,if there’s no pit there, I think that could have never happened because, usually it’s so shallow, but because of the digging of the sand, then the reason it’s very deep. Twenty-five feet.”
Britney Gordon
“So you want to warn and caution other people about this danger?”
Alfredo Pop
“Well, exactly, because what I want to tell the people from Bella Vista, we need to come together because what happened, this will not sto. To stop this, make me come together. For who is that pit? I don’t have no idea. I would’ve want advise our people from Bay Vista and make we try to do something about it or the government make it look into it. Because of this, I lost my daughter already.”
Residents are being warned to stay alert and avoid swimming in unfamiliar parts of the river, especially where digging may have occurred.
Belize City just got a major upgrade in how people get around. Say hello to eRide, the country’s first-ever digital taxi service – and it’s already turning heads. After the buzz around the Belize City Council’s electric bus rollout, residents have been eagerly waiting for the next big thing in clean transportation. Now, it’s here. With just a few taps on the eRide app, commuters can book safe, reliable, and eco-friendly rides across the city. Whether you’re heading to work, running errands, or exploring the city, eRide promises a smoother, greener way to travel. The service is designed to cut down on emissions and make clean transport more accessible for everyone – locals and tourists alike. News Five’s Britney Gordon was there this morning as the service officially launched.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Belize City just took another bold step into the future of transportation. Nearly a year after launching its electric bus pilot program, the city is now rolling out digital ride-hailing services and residents are already taking notice. The new e-taxis are officially on the move, offering a modern, app-based way to get around town. With just a few taps, commuters can now book rides that are not only convenient but also eco-friendly.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor
“We have a broad vision of really driving modern transportation system within the scope of our city. And so this is, again, ties in as we continue to build out that ecosystem. As you know, last year, we had launched the e-buses, and as part of that project independently of course with the Belize City council, this project really put in place a sort of additional component needed to really put, to really have us realize our ambition of a cleaner less pollution, less noise pollution Less emissions in the air.”
Getting around Belize City just got a whole lot easier and smarter. With the MiDriva app, booking a ride is now as simple as tapping your phone. Much like popular apps such as Uber or Lyft, this lets users order a ride, pay digitally, and even chat with their driver, all in one place.
Bernard Wagner
“You use this system to really communicate with the driver. You would book your ride, you would pay, it has a cash payment option, but it also allows you to pay cash if you want. You track your driver as he or she progress towards you and you get in the vehicle and enjoy the clean ride.”
Wondering what a ride will cost you? It all depends on how far you’re going, but here’s a quick guide: on average, every 1.3 kilometers will run you about eight dollars. Currently, there are four e-taxis being operated in the city. Abigail Westby is proud to be the first female driver for the new digital taxi service and she’s loving the ride so far.
Abigail Westby
Abigail Westby, E-Ride Taxi Driver
“I have had several instances prior where I’ve had trouble renting a taxi that’s reliable, that works efficiently. And this is a great opportunity that I’ve been waiting for a long time. And also I have thank my mother. She is a taxi as well for over eleven years. So it’s her idea that made me even venture into the taxi industry and now it has given me the opportunity to do this with the council.”
Belize City’s push for cleaner, smarter transportation hasn’t come without its bumps in the road. The e-Ride Taxi Service was made possible through a loan agreement secured in early 2024. But according to Mayor Bernard Wagner, that debt is already paid off. Despite the financial win, the road to progress hasn’t been smooth. Just like with the e-bus pilot project, the council is once again facing pushbacks from traditional taxi operators. Cabdrivers are voicing concerns that the new digital service could cut into their earnings, echoing the same frustrations previously raised by bus operators.
Bernard Wagner
“ We want to ensure that we do not compete. I know that there’s always this level of competition, but we don’t want to undersell our taximen at no time. They have been around for many years. They have provided this sort of service for years. But, again, it’s really challenging when you are dealing with change. But we are not here to really create barriers. It’s more to create opportunities. And we, while we are ignited for this project or the catalyst for this project, it’s not something that we see long term. We want this to be driven by the private sector. By the sort taxmen.”
Taxi drivers can operate the vehicle through a lease agreement, where drivers pay the council for the use of the vehicles. The council hopes that as the service grows, more vehicles and drivers can be introduced in the city. Britney Gordon for News Five,
The app is currently available for download on IOS and will be available to Android users by next week.
Nearly a year after the arrival of the E-buses in Belize City, the Belize City Council has introduced the e-Ride Taxi Service in the city. These are a part of the council’s E-Mobility Pilot Project, which seeks to offer Belizeans sustainable and reliable transportation options. However, these celebrated additions did not come without a steep price; with the e-Ride taxis requiring a two-hundred-and-twenty-three-thousand-dollar investment from the council. Considering these heavy costs, we spoke with Mayor Bernard Wagner, on whether the E-buses project had been a lucrative investment.
Reporter
“Have you made your financial assessment of the electric city bus service, is it financially feasible or does it still require a subsidy?”
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor
“The bus? No the bus has been doing pretty well. Like I told you from last year, that on an average for those in buses earn the city, about ten thousand per week. That has been average. We have seen a bit taper, tapered off, and we figured that would be in the neighborhood of eight thousand per week for two buses. We are not fully across the entire city. So that is expected, but we see it as a viable project going forward.”
Doctor Christopher Malcolm, the legal mind who recently made headlines in Belize for representing former Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow, is stepping into a prestigious new role. Come September first, Doctor Malcolm will take the helm as Dean of the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. While many in Belize know him for successfully challenging the legitimacy of the Unity Convention held by Tracy Taegar-Panton and the Alliance for Democracy, fewer may realize that Malcolm is a heavyweight in Caribbean legal education. A former Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands, he currently serves as a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Mona Law Institutes Unit at the University of the West Indies. Now, he’s set to lead one of the region’s top legal institutions. The Norman Manley Law School, named after Jamaican statesman Norman Manley, is one of only three schools in the Caribbean authorized to award Legal Education Certificates, alongside the Eugene Dupuch Law School in The Bahamas and the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago. Beyond the courtroom and classroom, Doctor Malcolm is a key figure in regional dispute resolution, helping shape legislation, train professionals, and build institutions that support peaceful conflict resolution. His appointment marks a new chapter for the Norman Manley Law School and a proud moment for Caribbean legal education.
A Bella Vista father is calling on the community and authorities to take urgent action after his fourteen-year-old daughter, Eliza Pop, tragically drowned in a hidden pit dug into the river near their home. Alfredo Pop is now warning villagers of the dangers posed by these deep excavations and urging collective action to prevent further loss of life.
“They were bathing inside the shallow place,” Pop explained. “But now when she stepped back several, like, three metres from the riverside, she never knew that she found a deep place there where the excavator dug almost like 25 feet deep. So when she put the foot down now, she sank right in there. That’s what happened with my daughter.”
According to Pop, the river is usually shallow and safe for swimming, but illegal or unregulated sand excavation has created sudden and hazardous drop-offs underwater. “It’s sad because, you know, I felt a big loss because she’s the only one. If there’s no pit there, I think that could have never happened,” he said.
The grieving father is now sounding the alarm and calling on Bella Vista residents to unite and demand accountability. “What I want to tell the people from Bella Vista – we need to come together. Because of what happened, this will not stop. To stop this, let us come together. For whom is that pit? I don’t have any idea,” Pop said.
Pop is also appealing for government intervention. “I would want to advise our people from Bella Vista and make us try to do something about it, or the government make it look into it. Because of this, I lost my daughter already,” he added.
A young man drowned on Tuesday afternoon in Placencia.
Eyewitness Nevin Duran recounted the chilling incident, which unfolded just before noon. He said, “Me and my brother went swimming, and, you know, we were there just swimming normally. We were playing like a race. And then we saw this guy… he was not far from us. He was like fishing.”
Duran explained that the young man had walked into the water with a fishing rod. “We didn’t really pay attention to him,” he said. “We were just chilling and talking.” But when Duran and his brother returned from a short swim, something was wrong.
“We came back — that took us like five minutes — and when we came back, we saw the guy that lives right in front; he was pulling the guy out of the water. We tried to run and ask, like, What happened?” Duran said. “He said, ‘Well, I don’t know. He was just perfectly fine swimming, and all of a sudden he was just, like, face down in the water.”
Efforts were made to revive the man. “He was performing CPR trying to, you know, bring back the guy. But it wasn’t working. That was going on for like 10 minutes,” Duran recalled. “He’s like, ‘Okay, one of you guys has to help me take him to the shade.”
Police was called. “The guy was… just lying on the ground completely unconscious, you know, just throwing up foam and blood,” he added.
Belize City has taken a major leap forward in urban transportation with the official launch of eRide, the country’s first digital taxi service. The eco-friendly, app-based platform allows users to book, track, and pay for rides through their smartphones — offering convenience, reliability, and sustainability in one package.
Mayor Bernard Wagner described the launch as part of a broader vision for cleaner, modern transport in the city. “We have a broad vision of really driving modern transportation within the scope of our city,” Wagner said. “This project really put in place an additional component needed to realise our ambition of a cleaner, less polluted city — less noise pollution, fewer emissions in the air.”
The new e-taxis operate similarly to global ride-hailing apps like Uber. Users can book rides, track drivers in real time, and communicate directly through the app. “You use this system to really communicate with the driver,” Wagner explained. “You would book your ride, pay, and enjoy the clean ride.”
Fares start at approximately eight dollars per 1.3 kilometres. There are currently four electric taxis in service. Among the drivers is Abigail Westby, the first female eRide driver. “This is a great opportunity I’ve been waiting for for a long time,” Westby said. “My mother, who has been a taxi driver for over eleven years, inspired me to venture into this.”
Funded through a loan secured earlier this year — now fully repaid — the project hasn’t been without controversy. Traditional taxi drivers have expressed concern over competition. Wagner addressed this: “We don’t want to undersell our taximen… It’s not something we see long-term. We want this to be driven by the private sector.”
A group of eight concerned parents has come forward with serious allegations against a teacher at Louisiana Government School. The parents allege that their children, all students of the same classroom, have suffered severe emotional trauma, physical harm, and psychological abuse at the hands of a teacher.
In a formal letter to Minister of Education Oscar Requena dated 20 March 2025, the parents outlined multiple cases of emotional distress, humiliation, and even medical emergencies which they claim were caused or mishandled by the teacher.
One mother said her child suffered facial paralysis during class on 12 December 2024, and was not informed by the school and only learnt of the incident from the child. Weeks later, the same teacher allegedly attempted to strike the child with a book. Fearing for her child’s safety, the mother transferred the student to another school.
In another case, a father said his son stopped learning effectively under the same teacher due to her alleged impatience and unwillingness to assist struggling students.
Another case made by a separate parent stated that the teacher tried to hit a student with a plastic bottle and mocked a crying child while other students watched.
One parent alleged their child sustained a facial injury requiring stitches. The teacher attributed the injury to a “head buck,” but a medical doctor contradicted this, suggesting the use of a sharp object. The incident was reportedly not investigated by the school.
Parents say complaints to school officials and the Ministry of Education (MOE) have been met with inaction. One parent told News 5 that the matter was also reported to the police, who visited the school but failed to take further steps or produce any actions.
According to the school’s administration, the reported incidents involving the teacher have been brought to the attention of MOE, and steps have been taken internally to monitor both the teacher and the students involved.
“I’m aware of those cases, because it’s more than one,” said Margarita Melendez, the acting principal at the school. “As administration, when it started, we spoke to the teacher. Afterwards, we forwarded the matter to the Ministry, and they advised us to give oral reprimands. We gave those oral reprimands. We also held sessions with both teachers and parents, and from that point, everything remained in the Ministry’s hands.”
Melendez added that all relevant documentation, including the school’s incident logs, had been photocopied and sent to the Ministry.
“The only advice we’ve received from the Ministry so far is to continue with the reprimands,” she said.
The most recent report regarding the teacher was submitted to the Ministry in February 2025. The teacher in question has been with the school for approximately nine years and is described as having a “strong character and very strict, but I have never heard her yelling at the kids,” the administrator noted.
News 5 has contacted MOE and is continuing to follow this story.
The voices of retired public officers rang loud and clear across the country this morning, as members of the Association of Beneficiaries and Retired Public Officers staged a coordinated protest, calling on the Government of Belize to deliver long-overdue benefits that have been withheld for nearly three decades.
The demonstration follows last week’s national protest by union members in Belmopan, escalating tensions between public sector workers and the government. Now, retirees — some in wheelchairs, others leaning on walking sticks — are making it known that they, too, demand justice.
Gathering at Battlefield Park in Belize City, and in four other districts, the retirees sent a unified message: they refuse to be forgotten.
“Look at the walking stick there. Look at the wheelchair behind me,” said Burndina Eck, a retired public officer who joined the protest despite health challenges. “Many of us have to limp our wheel out here and we still haven’t gotten our money. And we are hungry. We need to eat.”
At the heart of their grievance is a trust fund — valued at over $8 million — managed by the Public Service Workers Trust. The retirees claim that this fund represents two years of withheld salary increments dating back to 1995. They are now demanding that the trust be dissolved and the money distributed.
Senator Glenfield Dennison of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize stood in solidarity with the retirees, decrying the government’s inaction.
“This cause is one where former public officers who have given their entire lives and careers to the service of the government and people of Belize are literally dying before they are able to collect on a benefit,” Dennison said. “The cry of these retired public officers is simply this: we are ill, we are ailing. Our colleagues have died. We need the proceeds and the benefits of this trust.”
According to the Association, at least 65 retirees in the Belize District have passed away without receiving a cent from the fund.
