PHILIPSBURG, WILLEMSTAD - A sixteen-year-old boy J.G. was severely injured in a fight that took place in the vicinity of Milton Peters College (MPC) around 1:00pm Tuesday. He was later flown to Curaçao for further medical treatment.

G., a student of one of the area’s high schools, suffered a severe head injury in the fight. When police and ambulance personnel arrived at the scene, he was dazed and could barely speak.

While paramedics were treating him at the scene, police officers attempted to talk to the boy to find out what had happened to him. However, he could not give a clear account of what had transpired, said police in a press release on Wednesday afternoon. He was injured by a student from “one of the nearby schools”, said police.

Ambulance personnel rushed G. to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) for further treatment. He was flown to Curaçao on Tuesday, where he remains in critical condition.

The boy was admitted to Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) despite the shutdown of regular air traffic to the island due to the worldwide COVID-19 crisis. It was “a question of life and death,” said interim Director of the Health Service in Curaçao Melissa Arias.