Another Belmopan Market Vendor Dies in a Two-car Pileup

Police are on the lookout for two suspects involved in a deadly crash near Mile Forty-seven on the George Price Highway Thursday night. The tragic accident claimed the life of fifty-year-old Maria Caal from Cotton Tree Village. Reports indicate that Caal was in a Toyota pickup driven by seventy-year-old Manuel Juarez, a vegetable vendor at the Belmopan market. They were exiting NEMO Drive near El Rancho when a speeding Chevy Camaro collided with them. The impact killed Caal, while Juarez was rushed to Western Regional Hospital for treatment. The occupants of the Camaro, identified as Jose and Leli Mendez, reportedly fled the scene on foot into nearby bushes. Caal, who also worked at the Belmopan market, was trapped inside the wreckage. Earlier today, News Five spoke with Samuel Cal, who shared his insights on the tragic incident.

 

On the phone: Samuel Cal, Son of Deceased

“I saw a message on Facebook.  One of the people posted that they saw an accident happened near Mile 47 on the George Price Highway, saying that the victim was Maria Caal.  So I called one of my people that I know close and I told them that something happened and my mother had gotten into an accident, and I rushed and tried my best to reach there.  When I reached, a lot of cars were parked.  We reached and the officers were right there doing their job.  I see wah pickup bruk up and a next car was on the side of the road, but there was nobody in that car, looked like the guy ran away.  So I say, “I hope it’s not my mom.”  Well the guy, I told the guy that that’s my mother, Maria Caal.  That is her, who was in the accident.  When I gone, I saw my mom unconscious.  I gone check on the other side and I asked one of the police what had happened with the other driver.  He said he ran away.  How? Nobody knows.   Like how I said, when I reached just a little late but I still got the chance to see my mom in the pickup and then they put her in the police car and took her to Belmopan, but there was no space so they had to send her to Belize.  We are really sad, my mother left seven of us, six here and one in Houston and we are really sad and don’t know what to do.  We all need the people’s help because my mom was a hard-working lady, she was working at the market in Belmopan.”

 

The police are still investigating this tragic accident. Sadly, Maria Caal is the second female vendor from the Belmopan market to lose her life in a deadly collision in just five weeks. On December 3rd, 2024, Miriam Cordon, affectionately known as Miss Pretty, also died in a road accident on the George Price Highway.