A couple from Mason County were among the 12 people killed in a tourist bus crash in Mexico as they traveled from cruise ships to visit nearby Mayan ruins. Jody and Andy Fritz were among 31 passengers on the Mexican tour bus that crashed Tuesday.
Jody Fritz was an assistant principal at Sand Hill Elementary School in Belfair. Andy Fritz was an environmental science instructor at Clover Park Technical College. The couple reportedly recently purchased a home on Hood Canal.
The Associated Press says driver negligence and speed caused a bus crash. The bus was heading to the ruins at Chacchoben, about 110 miles south of Tulum, when it crashed on the Mahahual-Cafetal Highway in the southern part of Quintana Roo. Quintana Roo state prosecutors said a preliminary manslaughter investigation indicated the driver lost control of the bus and when he tried to get back on the narrow highway, the bus flipped, struck a tree and landed in vegetation along the roadside.
“Due to a lack of care the driver lost control of the bus’ steering to the right, leaving the asphalt,” state prosecutor Miguel Angel Pech Cen said at a news conference. He said evidence found at the scene indicated the driver was going too fast.