national

Business owners salvage belongings from crash site

William Sala/LA PRENSA

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"I've been reborn," said Rosario del Valle, owner of the little restaurant La Paisana, one of the 50 businesses affected when the Servicio Aéreo Nacional SAN-100 helicopter crashed and ignited the Banana Price warehouse on Q Street in Calidonia last Thursday.

Yesterday, the Ministerio Público authorized the Policía Nacional to reopen the five businesses closest to the warehouse, including del Valle's. Banana Price remains closed for safety reasons while investigations into the accident continue.

A team from the Oficina de Seguridad del Cuerpo de Bomberos supervised the scene of the accident as business owners like Del Valle returned to retrieve any belongings that survived the fire.

"The only thing I couldn't get out was the refrigerator. But the Ministerio Público official let us take the stove and some pans and containers," said Del Valle, who is still concerned about whether the government will compensate her for damages. Last Tuesday, however, viceministro de Gobierno y Justicia Severino indicated that those affected by the accident would be reimbursed.

Carlos Ever, a cigarette vendor on Q Street, was happy to learn that he could get back to work. Passersby took advantage of the opening of the street to look around the scene of the accident.

Meanwhile, authorities from the Junta de Investigación interviewed the SAN-100 helicopter's co-pilot and sole survivor of the crash, Second Lieutenant Ernaldo Carrasco, who is recovering from his injuries at the Hospital Nacional.

Carrasco described his crewmates' efforts to avoid a crash after one of the helicopter's engines failed in mid-flight.

The Junta de Investigación is composed of government lawyer Maruquel Castroverde and officials from the Autoridad de Aeronáutica Civil, the Servicio Aéreo Nacional and the Dirección de Investigación Judicial de la Policía Nacional.

Carrasco is expected to be released from the hospital sometime this week.