Friday

Friday 17th February 2023.

February 17, 2023

 

The forensics of Panama reported this Thursday that they require genetic information to identify the victims of the accident involving a bus with irregular migrants that occurred on Wednesday in Los Planes de Gualaca, Chiriquí, which left at least 40 dead and dozens injured, at least 15 in Serious condition.

“The state of the bodies and the lack of ante-mortem data make expert studies difficult, especially with regard to identification, since information will be needed from the countries of origin of the migrants to obtain papilloscopic or dental records and samples of relatives for genetic comparison,” said the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.

This identification process “will take time,” said the forensic institute, adding in a statement that “in the meantime, the corpses will be preserved with the due dignity established by international standards.”

The bodies, many of them dismembered due to the violence of the accident, as reported by the authorities, are found in the facilities of the David Judicial Morgue, Chiriquí, on the border with Costa Rica and located about 450 kilometers from the capital.

The bus was left without a roof, destroyed, with the seats scattered on the ground at the scene of the accident, a trunk road that leads to the Gualaca migrant shelter, the last point that irregular travelers touch in Panama before leaving for Costa Rica on the framework of the state operation “controlled flow”.


A group of residents of the PH Urbana, through their legal representatives, submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office an expert opinion on the hermeticity test of the structure that was affected by an explosion last November.

At a press conference, the lawyers of some 20 residents of the building highlighted that the report prepared by suitable experts reflects that there was a perforation of the main gas pipeline on the laundry side of the 14th floor.

“When it was perforated and when the gas spread began, it went down to the 12th floor and that was where the explosion was caused, that is decisive and forceful,” said Irving Santos, part of the legal team that represents the group of residents.

He maintained that it will be the Public Prosecutor’s Office that will support before the Judicial Branch who will be responsible for this fact.

This position comes after the Panama Fire Department submitted a report on the explosion, arguing that the explosion was due to a gas leak from the stove in apartment 12C on the 12th floor. In addition, that the leak from apartment 14C on the 14 did not affect the fact.

Santos said that by law the Firefighters have to investigate, but what he has presented is a collaboration.

“We consider that it is not adjusted to reality, from the different procedures that were carried out in the building”, Santos.

Santos reported that despite the fact that the Public Ministry released the apartments from floors 1 to 10 and from 15 onwards, the infrastructure is still being worked on and will have to be verified again by the Municipality of Panama.


The Ministry of Agricultural Development (Mida) adopted preventive measures in West Panama, one of the provinces with the highest poultry production, in the face of bird flu.

In a resolution, dated February 14, 2023, the Mida National Directorate of Animal Health prohibits the internal movement of backyard domestic birds, fertile eggs and ornamental birds in the Province of West Panama, and to the rest of the country.

The measure will be in force for 90 days and is taken as a preventive action due to the high poultry population in the region, against the risks of the establishment and spread of avian influenza in the country.

The resolution explains that commercial birds and eggs are excepted from this measure.


Judy Meana decided to break the silence that she maintained a week ago, after announcing her resignation from the position of deputy mayor of the capital, and revealed what was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

According to Meana, the Panama City Hall, led by José Luis Fábrega, should focus from now on, on “contact with the people.”

In her opinion, her resignation from the post announced on February 8 “is a wake-up call: you have to listen to the people.”

She said that during her management several situations arose, but there was one that made her leave the position. “I agreed with the beach project, the seafood market, but I don’t agree with the tax increase,” she said.

When asked why she left a year and a half before her term ends, she replied that “ones position must be fulfilled professionally.”


The magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal (TE), Alfredo Juncá, announced this Thursday that the entity has put into operation a portal for those people who lose their personal identity card during Carnival, so that they later have the possibility of recovering it.

Juncá said that the dondeestamicedula.com project is being launched , an initiative through which citizens, when they lose their identity card, will be able to locate it later without having to pay for a duplicate.

“In this portal, the citizen will be able to enter the ID number, if he has lost it, and the portal must say where it is and where he can pick it up. He would not have to pay for a duplicate of 35 dollars, ”Juncá specified.

He announced that the TE, during these dates, will place posts at various points, such as in Dolega (Chiriquí), Penonomé (Coclé), in Santiago (Veraguas) and Cinta Costera (Panama), among others, so that people who find lost IDs take them to these points.


Netflix, the popular American streaming platform , premiered on February 14 –on Valentine’s Day – the first season of the reality show Perfect Match .

In the series, couples who prove their compatibility can unite or separate the others in this dating program “in which strategy and seduction are the protagonists,” according to Netflix on its website.

And, for the recordings of the program, the production executives chose paradisiacal beaches in Panama to frame the experience of the 23 participating singles, it was reported this Thursday, February 16.

“Once again, Panama has established itself as an excellent destination for the industry, and this year it demonstrates it again by being the main location of this famous reality show. Definitely, our beautiful beaches and islands have been the perfect complement for this production,” said Essie Mastellari, director of the Panamanian Film Commission of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI).

Mastellari also pointed out that a Panamanian company served as support for the filming.

According to the MICI, the filming of the reality show generated more than 50 jobs for Panamanians, among other contributions to the revitalization of the local economy.

The program is hosted by American singer and television presenter Nick Lachey.


 

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