Three Killed in Orange Walk Crash Involving Cane Truck

A tragic road traffic accident in the Orange Walk District has left three people dead and several others injured, following a late-night collision in a rural area.  Police say the incident involved a red 2008 Ford F-150 pickup truck and a tandem truck and wooden trailer loaded with sugar cane. When authorities arrived on the scene, they found the pickup extensively damaged and positioned off the roadway.  Inside the vehicle were the motionless bodies of 29-year-old Celvin Cortez, a laborer of San Felipe Village; 19-year-old Sherlyn Henriquez, a domestic of August Pine Ridge Village; and 35-year-old Bryon Magaña, a bus driver also from San Felipe Village. All three victims had suffered severe head and body injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.  At today’s police weekly press briefing, ASP Stacy Smith, provided further details on the fatal crash.

Stacy Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Police: “The investigation commenced on Sunday 19 April 2026 at around 11 pm when officers attached to the Orange Walk formation were alerted that there was a road traffic accident near August Pine Ridge in that district. The officers responded where they learned that the vehicles that were involved in the accident was an F150 pickup truck and a freight liner tandem truck which was towing two wooden trailers that contained sugar cane. Preliminary investigations indicate that the vehicles were traveling in opposite directions when the pickup truck in which the deceased persons were traveling in is alleged to have collided into the left front portion of one of the trailers. The impact caused the pickup truck to loose control and careen resulting in the death of the three occupants.”

Investigations have identified the driver of the truck as 27-year-old Giovani Gutierrez of San Lazaro Village, who was reportedly traveling with multiple occupants at the time. Police say additional passengers, including 30-year-old Dianelly Gomez and two children aged three and nine, sustained various injuries, including lacerations, swelling, and abrasions.