If you’ve ever visited the market in the nation’s capital, you might remember the food booth at the back called Miriam’s Sunrise, near the restrooms. Sadly, the friendly face of fifty-four-year-old Miriam Cordon will no longer be there to greet customers. Miriam was traveling towards Belmopan from Belize City when she was involved in a traffic accident on Monday night between miles twenty-five and twenty-six. Police have detained the driver of another vehicle and suspect alcohol intoxication played a role in the incident. News Five’s Marion Ali has more on this story.
This is what the George Price Highway looked like after two traffic accidents occurred at the same spot between 8:45 and nine p.m. on Monday night. These accidents tragically resulted in the death of fifty-four-year-old Miriam Cordon, the owner of Miriam’s Sunrise at the Belmopan Market. The first accident involved a grey Kia Soul SUV heading from Belmopan towards Belize City. As it reached between miles twenty-five and twenty-six, the driver, forty-nine-year-old Kelvin Reneau Sr., lost control, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and into the bushes. Reneau and his passengers, Aliyah Torres and Aaisha Williams, sustained various injuries. Torres and Williams are currently receiving medical treatment, while Reneau, who suffered a broken rib, is recovering at home. He told News Five that he was blinded by the bright halogen lights of an oncoming vehicle, which caused him to run off the road.
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau, Sr., Injured in Accident
“I di dip this person fi lower ih light, lower ih light, lower ih light and this person deh pahn wa curve. When you di drive fast pahn wa curve, you might can’t see in your lane so you might shift into somebody else’s lane. I had to slow down and shift and you know how fi we road stand – like the edge ah it nuh perfect. Soh as far as I could remember, I come offa the pavement and hit the gravel and I nuh know weh happen after that. I just feel the vehicle di flip and flip and flip.”
While police were helping the victims and processing the scene, oncoming traffic had to pull over to let the ambulance through. That’s when the second accident happened, claiming the life of Miriam Cordon. A white Ford Econoline van, driven by Leroy Nunez, was heading from Belize City to Belmopan when it crashed into the back of a parked red Chevrolet Equinox. Inside the Equinox were Cordon, Joshua Magaña, and Angel Pastrana. Cordon was so badly injured that she died on the way to the KHMH. Reneau shared what he heard while being helped at the scene.
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau
“By the time deh come fi me fi put me pahn the stretcher, all weh I hear da hard tires, hard tires and wa loud bang, and I hear people di scream. Dehm mi deh out deh di ait cause police have to give the okay when fi pass and there was a delay soh deh mi can’t pass. The driver who hit da person deh suppose to mi di come under speed and couldn’t slow down but there were a lot of lights soh how dehn nuh see the lights? Ambulance light, vehicle lights, hazard lights, and cones. How come da person neva see all da light.”
Magana and Pastrana are hospitalized. Two of Cordon’s friends, Coreen Rudon and Ruth Guzman, told reporters that the food court at the Belmopan Market was not the same today.
Ruth Guzman, Friend of Deceased
“I never believe it, that she dead because I expect she fi come back well from her destination. She never mek it.”
Marion Ali
“So last week when you worked with her the last day, what was that like?”
Ruth Guzman
“She mi come out and she say ih gwein and then she dress up good and I even tell her, Miss Miriam, you look like a good, pretty gial. Ih holla to me mek I goh get the key and she gone. I tell her goodbye, I tell her, then yesterday ih say ih wa come, today.”
Marion Ali
“You spoke with her yesterday?”
Ruth Guzman
“She talk to ih worker and ih say ih might come today, but ih never mek it.”
Coreen Rudon, Friend of Deceased
“Me and Miriam are very good friends. I get to know Miriam around the market because she’s a business person just like me. And from the time I get to know Miriam, she’s a very kind, loving, and jovial person. Miriam was so good to us. Everyone around this market miss her so much today.”
Police have detained Leroy Nunez and are considering charges, including Driving with Alcohol Concentration Above the Prescribed Limit, Manslaughter by Negligence, Causing Death by Careless Conduct, and Driving Without Due Care and Attention. As he awaits these charges, Cordon’s friends are left with only memories of their last moments with her.
Coreen Rudon
“The last time Miriam speak to us was Thursday; ih come in here and ih dress up and ih got on a hat and everything and I tell ah, madaz gial, I tell ah, you look like Mexican. She da wa person, whenever she cook something special she wa come and seh to me, “Cor, I cook this gial and I cook black dinna and I know you love that soh I bring some fi you because you know I cook the best.” That’s how she do it, you know?”
“Friendly competition?”
Coreen Rudon
“Very friendly competition, you know? She nuh stuck up with nobody, none of her workers them. If we no have food, we wa say, Mir, you got this? Or, Patty, you got this? Therese, you got? Everybody cooperated with one another, and that’s how we know Miriam, man.”
Kelvin Reneau laments that if he hadn’t been blinded by halogen lights in the first place, the tragedy would not have happened. He made an appeal for something to be done about the use of halogen lights on the highways.
Via Phone: Kelvin Reneau
“I woulda really want the government try to suppress dehn halogen lights cause when dehn light dehn pahn the highway and deh light dehn eena yoh face, ig could deh pahn low beam and ih so bright that ih could blind wa next person coming from the next direction, check.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
