2023News

13 people in SUV crash who drowned were of the same family

Thirteen persons who drowned when the SUV they were traveling in crashed into an irrigation canal in Esperanza, Valverde were Haitians of the same family. Archbishop of Santiago, Monsignor Freddy de Jesus Bretón Martinez made the statement when interviewed by journalist Virgilio Apolinar Ramos for Comunicación y Vida.

“We are very sorry for this tragedy and from here our heartfelt condolences to their relatives, where there were even two children, one newborn,” said Monsignor Bretón Martínez.

The Archbishop of Santiago said the citizens were fleeing Haiti due to the precarious living conditions there.

Meanwhile, 23 days after that tragedy, the police authorities nor the Public Ministry have yet to report on the whereabouts of the vehicle’s driver, who escaped unharmed and fled.

Narciso Pérez indicates that at the scene of the accident, the police authorities collected an ID that was in the name of Elmer Eleazar Durán, a resident of Dajabón and it is believed that he could have been the driver of the SUV license plate G-237587, in which the deceased were traveling.

About the corpses, only three of the four that they identified were claimed by their relatives, the rest remained unidentified and the authorities report they would be buried in a common grave.

The survivors say the undocumented Haitians were on their way to Santiago and other towns in Central Cibao and Santo Domingo.

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30 August 2023