Puerto Rico authorities find more remains of plane crash victims
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| Published on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 |
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By María Miranda Sierra
Caribbean Net News Puerto Rico Correspondent
Email: miranda@caribbeannetnews.com
QUEBRADILLAS, Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico police authorities on Tuesday found an arm and various personal effects under the fuselage or the aircraft's main body section of the single engine Cessna 206 airplane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near the city of Quebradillas last week.
The wreckage of the airplane still remains at the bottom of the sea due to bad weather conditions in the area that have made it difficult for authorities to conduct their retrieval efforts.
Puerto Rico State of Emergency and Disasters Administration Executive Director Heriberto Saurí said that the remains of some body parts, an identification card and other personal belongings were found by authorities when they began to retrieve the cabin, engine, wing and other main body sections of the aircraft.
“Under the aircraft's main body section that holds the passengers we found an arm, an identification card and additional personal items of the passengers,” Saurí said in a radio interview.
The airplane's remains have been found near the coast of the Terranova sector in the town of Quebradillas, the area where according to eye witnesses the accident occurred.
Saurí said that the human remains and the personal items that were found at the bottom of the ocean are being taken to the Forensic Sciences Institute so pathologists can conduct further analysis.
Saurí added that the due to the bad weather conditions in the area it has been difficult for authorities to retrieve the aircraft's main body section, but a number of scuba divers and boats are working on retrieving the airplane’s remains.
On Sunday police found mutilated remains, believed to be those of Karen Pizarro, the only woman on the plane, which were found floating in a seaside cave close to where the plane crashed.
Last week authorities found the remains of one man but he could not be immediately identified due to the fact that sharks in the area had mutilated him.
The single engine Cessna 206 airplane was privately owned and was flying from the Dominican Republic when it crashed into the ocean near the city of Quebradillas located in the northern coast of the island.
The plane’s passengers were all prominent Puerto Rican business people, including Ralph Christiansen an insurance broker at Marsh Saldaña Inc. and the uncle of Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi’s wife. Also on the plane were businessmen Luis Lavergne, Luis Romero, Alberto Bachman, Karen Pizarro and the pilot Jorge Bringuier.
According to eye witnesses an explosion took place as the single-engine plane went down Sunday evening, Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad told reporters.
“Witnesses heard the sound of an engine struggling and seeing an explosion before the plane crashed about a half-mile off shore in the town of Quebradillas,” Castrodad said.
Saurí said that the divers will continue concentrating their efforts in the areas close to where Pizarro's remains were found.
"We are going to activate scuba diver units to be able to search the area more thoroughly, including the submarine caves in the Camuy area," Saurí said. "We are also going to continue searching the grounds from the town of Arecibo to the town of Aguadilla." | | | | Reads : 1562 | | | |
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