Orange Walk trio die in vehicle collision with cane trailer

By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 20, 2026

   Three Orange Walk residents died in a vehicle collision on the road between the August Pine Ridge and Trinidad villages around 11 o’clock on Sunday night, April 19.

   Selvin Cortez, 29, of San Felipe Village, was at the wheel of his red F-150 Ford pickup truck, in the company of Byron Magaña, 35, also of San Felipe, and his girlfriend Sherlyn Henriquez, 19, when they reportedly collided with one of two wooden trailers loaded with sugarcane, which were being towed by a Freightliner truck.

   Orange Walk police responded to a report of the collision and went to the scene, where they found all three victims dead, the pickup severely damaged, and the trailer pushed off the side of the road, with its load of sugarcane spilled on the ground. The pickup appeared to have been travelling in the opposite direction to the truck trailer tandem, when the pickup hit the left front portion of the sugar cane trailer.    On Monday afternoon, Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith said that a urine sample was taken from the truck driver, but only a toxicology report will determine if alcohol use was a factor in the collision.