Belize Ambulance driver charged for fatal crash

More than a year after two men were struck down by an ambulance and killed, police have charged the driver with two counts of manslaughter by negligence and two counts of causing death by careless conduct.

Police said that the driver of the ambulance, Josh Barrillas, had claimed that he did not notice the motorcycle in front of him at the time of the incident that occurred in February 2023.

The victims, Aurelio Ayala, 41 and Joana Somoza, 21, were attempting to cross the Beaver Dam Bridge in Saint Matthew’s Village, an agricultural region, when Barrillas collided into the back of the motorcycle.

The arrest and charges against Barrillas come at a time when Belize is recording an alarming increase in the number of road traffic accidents, with the authorities saying several of these accidents have been caused by reckless or negligent drivers.

So far this week, there have been three fatal accidents in southern and western Belize.