A fatal workplace accident that claimed the life of a 49-year-old Bulridge Ltd. employee in western Belize’s Cayo District has sparked clarification from the company, just days after the incident took the worker’s life.
On September 3, Mauricio Solis, a resident of San Ignacio Town, died in a crash near Guacamayo Bridge in the Mountain Pine Ridge area. Initial accounts shared by Solis’ family suggested the worker was traveling in a company-owned vehicle when heavy machinery being transported came loose, leading to the fatal incident. Sylvia Lopez, Solis’ sister-in-law, told local outlet News 5 that the family was still working to piece together a full timeline of events in the days after the tragedy, after receiving the early account of the accident.
News 5 reached out to Bulridge Ltd. for official comment and confirmation of the family’s account starting on Monday, and the company released an official formal statement on September 8 addressing key details of the incident. In its press release, Bulridge explicitly denied that any of its own equipment or staff were directly involved in causing the accident.
According to the company’s official clarification, Solis was on official duty at the time of the crash, assigned to accompany a third-party private contractor to the pre-designated worksite. The entire fleet of equipment involved in the incident — including the dump truck, transport trailer, and backhoe — is owned by Bahadur Trucking & Backhoe Service, a local contractor operated by Kurt Bahadur, not Bulridge Ltd.
The company noted that official law enforcement investigations into the exact cause and circumstances of the accident are still ongoing, echoing the Solis family’s position that all stakeholders are awaiting formal, authoritative findings from investigators to confirm how the tragedy unfolded. “Like the family, Bulridge Ltd. is awaiting official information regarding the circumstances surrounding this tragic event,” the company’s statement read.