(San Salvador) Three days of national mourning have been declared in El Salvador after the death of the police director, one of the figures in the fight against armed gangs, who died with eight other people in a helicopter crash, the country’s authorities announced Monday evening.
The military helicopter carrying Mauricio Arriaza crashed in the San Eduardo sector, 180 km northeast of the capital San Salvador. It was escorting Manuel Coto, the former director of a financial institution accused of major embezzlement and arrested Sunday in Honduras.
Police said the deputy director of investigations, Romulo Pompilio Romero, and Corporal Abel Antonio Arevalo also died in the accident.
“All the bodies of the deceased were recovered by the military and rescuers from the wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed into a wooded hillside,” a presidential spokeswoman said.
PHOTO MARVIN RECINOS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
After the incident, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele promised to open an investigation.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has declared “three days of national mourning” in honor of the victims, his communications secretariat announced on X.
“He was not just any police director, he was the police director of the territorial control plan, of the emergency regime and of the war against gangs,” a “fundamental piece in the establishment of peace and security for our people,” Bukele stressed on the same communication channel.
Nayib Bukele, who began a second term as president in June after a triumphant election victory, has based his program and popularity mainly on the fight against the “maras”, under the state of emergency in force since 2022 which allows arrests without a warrant.
Nearly 82,000 suspected gang members have been imprisoned in just over two years. However, human rights groups have questioned these methods, expressing concern about the incarceration of innocent people and the conditions of detention.
“National hero”
David Cruz, the Justice Department’s communications chief who also died in the crash, had reported rain shortly before the accident.
Mr. Bukele promised to open an investigation. “What happened cannot remain a simple accident, it must be the subject of a thorough investigation,” he said, specifying that he would request “international assistance.”
“We will investigate to the end, but nothing can bring back our national hero,” he added.
Manuel Coto, who fled to Honduras where he was arrested before being handed over to the Salvadoran police, is accused of embezzling 35 million dollars as the former director of the Santa Victoria Savings and Credit Cooperative (Cosavi).
PHOTO MARVIN RECINOS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
According to public broadcaster Canal 10, David Cruz, the head of communications for the Justice Ministry, also died in the crash.
He was arrested while driving with “a human trafficker towards the United States,” Honduran Security Minister Gustavo Sanchez said on X.
By nightfall on Sunday, Commissioner Arriaza had arrived at the El Amatillo border crossing, which separates El Salvador from Honduras, where his counterparts handed over the fugitive to him.
“We wish to thank, congratulate and acknowledge the international operations that we carry out with the Republic of Honduras and other countries,” were these latest official statements.