Saint Sebastian – Charolyn Torres he sensed the worst, but he might not think that such a great tragedy was possible.
A few steps from the place where four loved ones of his family had lost their lives on Thursday night in a terrible traffic accident in San Sebastian, Torres was overcome with nervousness and decided to return home in the hope that his fear would be vain.
A few hours before, everyone had shared as a family. Within the sorrow of attending the funeral of one of the relatives, last Saturday, the family sharing had helped to cope with the sorrow and even enjoy the time together. But, sitting in the room, they saw a live broadcast of the scene on social networks and heard references that left them in no doubt, so Torres returned to the place where the fatality occurred to face the nightmare.
“We arrived on the scene once more when unfortunately it was them,” Torres recalled. “Is strong”.
The accident was reported at around 8:35 p.m. Thursday, on the PR-111 highway, near some fast food restaurants and shops.
The brothers died in the spectacular crash. Milagros Soto, 72 years old; Ana Gonzalez, 72 years old; Aníbal González, 70 years old; and Maira Hold (Soto’s daughter) 50 years old. Although the four are natives of San Sebastián, they were all in Puerto Rico because they had traveled from the United States to attend the funeral of José Soto, husband of Milagros and father of Hold.
“(José) always told my comadre (Milagros) that the day he died, they should bring him to Puerto Rico and watch over him and bury him here because this was his island,” Torres said.
Fulfilling his wish, the whole family came to this town. Some had already returned to the United States, but Maira had stayed with her mother and her uncles for a few extra days to run some errands and were traveling to the United States the following Monday.
“Those three brothers were always, always together,” Torres said.
“The four of them were with my mother for almost two hours. My mom says they had a great time. When Maira left to say goodbye to my mom, she started crying, ”she added. “And mommy told him ‘my love, counting on the Lord, we’ll see each other soon.’ And she told him yes, that they had to return to Puerto Rico for one of her father’s matters, which was the one we buried last Saturday.”
After confirming with the authorities, from the scene Torres found the strength to call Hold’s sister in the United States to report what had happened.
“I had to break the news to him. It was not easy. Even now she is in the hospital. She told me, she told me ‘Tata I’m leaving you in charge of the corpses,’” she recounted.
The surviving children of the deceased were going to travel to Puerto Rico, but they will not, as they will wait for the funeral home Pepino Funeral Service to send the remains to the United States, where they will be buried, according to the family.
“It is a very big tragedy, because they lost a family member. We did that funeral last Saturday. They shared here until they took the remains to the holy field, “said José Luis Jiménez Blas, director of the funeral home.
“It is extremely difficult, because it is a tragedy that touches us all and the most that we were sharing with them last Saturday, providing our services. When we found out it was them, I don’t know, no matter how hard you work at this, you never get used to other people’s pain and always play, always play, “Jiménez Blas added.
Torres thinks his relatives were on their way to eat at one of the nearby restaurants when the crash occurred.
According to the preliminary investigation by the Aguadilla Traffic Division, Aníbal González was driving the white Hyundai Accent car, while Hold was in the front passenger seat.
Lieutenant Rolando Pérez Nieves, deputy director of the Aguadilla Traffic Division, explained that the Hyundai Accent made a left turn “without taking due precautions and without giving way to the 2005 white Ford Mustang” that was driving Felix Quinones Velez21 years old.
The Mustang then collided head-on with the Accent through the right side doors.
The collision was so strong that the Hyundai car was several meters away and one of the passengers was ejected from the vehicle.
“The occupants in the front (of the Hyundai Accent) were wearing seat belts, but not the female passengers in the back of the vehicle. One of them was expelled (and resulted) with serious injuries that caused her death”, explained Pérez Nieves.
Regarding the driver of the Mustang, Pérez Nieves specified that when the agents arrived at the scene, they found him sitting on a wall on the side of the road, visibly affected by the situation. The young man was taken to a hospital in the area and, although he “is injured, he is stable.”
After a few hours, he was discharged and mid-morning today he went to carry out paperwork at the Aguadilla Transit Barracks.
“A blood alcohol test was taken. As it was by blood, the results are not instant, “explained Pérez Nieves last night.
He recalled that in the place where the accident occurred there was no sign prohibiting the turn, but there is a “double yellow line” that does not allow passing other cars, but it is possible to make “a turn to the left taking due precautions. In this case, it didn’t happen.”
Asked if the investigation might take another turn, if it was identified that the driver of the Ford Mustang was driving over the speed limit, the lieutenant pointed out that the determination rests with the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.
“That’s a 45-mile (per hour) zone in both directions. Even if this driver was speeding – we don’t know by how much he was speeding or if he was speeding – if somehow the driver of car number 1 (Hyundai Accent) didn’t make the turn without taking precautions, the accident didn’t happen. In a certain way, what causes this accident is the driver’s action of making a turn without giving way to the vehicle that was going in the opposite direction,” said Pérez Nieves.
For his part, the mayor of San Sebastián, Javier Jimenezstressed that the loss has impacted many residents of the municipality.
“It is very unfortunate. It is a tragedy for our entire town, not only for the family and friends who knew these people, but for the entire town because of the way it happened. Four people who come from the United States to bury the husband of one of them, because they also lose their lives, “said Jiménez.
Given the comments of several people on social networks indicating that there is not enough lighting in that area, Jiménez said that “the problem is not lighting.”
“That road is basically new. It was paved a year ago,” said Jiménez. “It is also well marked. It is our main area in San Sebastián, where there are many businesses, mostly fast food, the fast food that we know. So the road is quite well lit.”
