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A tragic traffic accident that occurred on the afternoon of this Friday in Santa Fe, in the Playa municipality, Havana, resulted in the death of a mother and injuries to her minor daughter after they were hit by a minibus known as a "gacela."
As is usual in various incidents in Cuba, reports on social media indicated a significant delay in sending an ambulance to the scene of the accident.
"Please, this is urgent, post it to see if they finally send the ambulance. At 4:30, there was an accident in Santa Fe, Playa; a 'gazella' hit a mother with a child. The mother is in very bad shape, between life and death, and the girl is all bruised with a very large bump on her head," wrote Yaneli Morales, who manages the Facebook profile Díaz-Canel Sin Gao.
In a second update, the source indicated that the mother was in very poor condition, with spinal cord detachment, brain death, and that the ambulance had finally arrived two and a half hours after being called.
"My relative called me and told me that the girl's screams at the clinic were intolerable," she concluded.
A third update indicated that, unfortunately, the mother had died and blamed the speed of the gazelle.
"Anyone from Santa Fe knows that this area is for school, he was speeding, you have to go at 40", pointed out the source.
According to several testimonies shared on social media and local forums, the incident occurred around 4:30 p.m., when the woman was picking up her daughter from school.
The exact circumstances of the accident are still unclear, but several users hold the minibus driver responsible for driving at a speed above the permitted limit.
Other testimonies agree that these violations are recurrent: "those gazelles are always flying around, the drivers think they're in Formula 1" or "they're just as likely to have their phone in hand as they are to be speeding."
However, versions also emerged suggesting shared responsibility.
A user pointed out that the mother "did not respect the fifth stop sign and did not notice that the Gazelle was coming"; although others insist that, even if that happened, the speed of the vehicle was still excessive and against the law.
The incident has generated a wave of outrage in the Santa Fe community, where the victim—affectionately known as "la Pulga"—was a beloved figure among her neighbors.
"Santa Fe is in mourning", expressed a resident, as dozens of messages on social media sent condolences and words of solidarity and affection for the family.
As of the close of this report, there are no further details regarding what happened.
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