Mérida, Yucatán -- Six Canadians travelling in a van near Mérida were involved in a fatal auto accident last night (Feb. 4) which claimed the lives of three young Mexican men.
Police say the driver of the van, Jean François Beaudet, crossed the center line and collided head on with a taxi. The cab driver, 26, and his front seat passenger, 27, were killed instantly. A third man in the rear seat died hours later at a local hospital. All three men were trapped in the crushed taxi and had to be extricated by emergency responders.
The crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. on a road known as the Kantunil–Holcá highway. The area is about half way between this capital city of Yucatán and the Chichén Itzá archaeological site, near Valladolid.
The Canadians apparently were uninjured. An initial Spanish language press report suggests that they have may been a television production crew, but a conflicting story describes them as tourists.
Update Feb. 21 - Canadian charged with three counts of manslaughter: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/canadian-national-faces-manslaughter.html.
Update Mar. 24 - Canadian released in triple homicide case: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/canadian-released-in-triple-homicide.html.
Note/Query to readers: A bunch of Canadian visitors have stopped by in recent days to check out this article, even though I posted it over two weeks ago. I did a quick (not a thorough) search this evening, but I was unable to locate any more information. If any of you have details, particularly about Jean François Beaudet, I'd appreciate them. I'm curious as to whether he's someone "important" or well-known in Canada, and also whether there was any Canadian press coverage of the accident.
ReplyDeleteThanks much, and a special welcome to those Canadians just visiting MGRR for the first time. I try to cover stories which may be of interest to you, since no one else in Yucatán is doing so on a regular basis (in English, that is).
This story just started to get media coverage (in Spanish and French):
ReplyDelete- http://noticiasmontreal.com/24271/joven-quebecois-implicado-en-un-acccidente-de-transito-fatal-fue-arrestado-en-mexico/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=joven-quebecois-implicado-en-un-acccidente-de-transito-fatal-fue-arrestado-en-mexico
- http://www.24hmontreal.canoe.ca/24hmontreal/actualites/archives/2012/02/20120220-230505.html
He is a young guy on a road trip with his friends. They have been documenting their trip on http://www.elguagua.com/who.htm.
Thanks for your note, and also my thanks to Canadian reader Toni who dropped me an e-mail about the case several hours ago. I'll post a brief update this morning, based upon the French and Spanish news accounts which are now appearing on line. MGRR reported this case just 15 hours after it happened -- more than two weeks ahead of everyone else.
ReplyDelete