In its follow up coverage of the accident in which four tourists were killed and dozens of others were injured on 6 October 2022, Diario Libre reports that nine of the 51 on the bus remain in private medical centers (IMG, Hospiten) in Punta Cana, including one in an Intensive Care Unit.
The authorities ordered the closure of the Domingo Maíz intersection of the Bulevar Turístico del Este (connecting the central Bavaro area with the highway to Miches), where the fatal accident occurred on 6 October 2022.
The injured tourists had booked an excursion to Saona Island. A surveillance video shows the driver approaching a curve at a high speed. This led to the sliding of the bus to its side. Tourists that were on the grounded side suffered serious injuries.
The preventive custody hearing for the accused driver, Franklin Nin Perez, is scheduled for Thursday, 13 October. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is asking for one year of preventive imprisonment against Nin Pérez.
Diario Libre also reports that the driver maintains he was not speeding and says the pronounced turn was to avoid a crossing truck. He also denies the tires were wasted, as videos and photos have shown. He had no comments on accusations he was driving under the influence of cocaine.
The prosecution accusatory document details that the analysis presented by the IMG Hospital showed that Nin Pérez tested positive for cocaine. State prosecutors say the accident was caused when the driver did not reduce speed when turning “without caution, in a careless, reckless, reckless and imprudent manner.”
Spokespeople for driver unions in the area are standing behind the driver saying that at most the accident means Nin Perez could get three years in jail. They say early statements by the director of the National Transport & Transit Institute (Intrant), Hugo Beras who remarked that the driver would not drive again are premature because the case has not yet been heard in court.
The president of the largest transport company in the country, Antonio Marte of Conatra, urges the director of Intrant not to accept blackmailing by the transporters. Conatra is a major beneficiary of public-private alliances for key transport routes.
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13 October 2022