Investigations Continue Into Youth Detention Center Fire Deaths
(Panama-Guide) - La Prensa - Young men with burns of up to 90% of their bodies, one injured in the face with bird shot, and lesions on his wrists "consistent with the use of handcuffs," are part of the initial balance made by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Imelcf) of the victims of the fire on Sunday at the Juvenile Enforcement Center in Tocumen. The incident has left one person dead, six burnt and seven wounded, four of them with bird-shot. For two days, coroners have examined those hospitalized in the Santo Tomas hospital.
The burn injuries are second and third degree. The most seriously injured has burns on 90% of this body, and the least seriously injured has burns on 30% of his body. All are sedated, intubated and connected to a ventilator.
Humberto Mas, the director of the Imelcf, also reported that one of the young men who was burned also had blows "with blunt objects compatible with the use of a police baton."
On the seven other young people who were injured - but not hospitalized - he said that four have bird-shot wounds, one of whom was shot "in the face." The other three have abrasions on their wrists and forearms, "consistent with the use of zip-ties or handcuffs." The seven young people injured were not taken to the Santo Tomas hospital, but rather to the Arco Iris Custody Center, also in Tocumen. There were taken the 34 detainees from Pavilion 6 who survived the fire and who are witness of what happened.
Yesterday, the relatives of Eric Alexis Batista Mosquera, who died on Tuesday night due to burns, filed a criminal complaint against the director of the Compliance Center, Iris Cedeno, the chief of police of the Tocumen area, Luis Ortega, and perimeter security chief of the Center, Ernesto Blake. The complaint was presented by Carlos Herrera Morán, a lawyer for the Batista family, to the office of the Auxiliary Prosecutor, which started their investigations on Sunday night. Eric, who was to celebrate his 18th birthday on 2 February, was serving a sentence of 11 months and 15 days in jail for possession of a weapon. His scheduled release date was 9 May 2011, but since he had already served two thirds of his sentence, he was to be released 10 days after the incident.
The medical specialists at the Santo Tomas hospital give little hope to the families of the six survivors. Five days after the tragedy, their vital organs are starting to fail and there are symptoms of infection, said Luis Carlos Bravo, Head of Intensive of the Burn Unit.
Reluctance - Assistant Prosecutor Dimas Guevara, reported yesterday that for the second time ha has asked the National Police to provide the names of the police officers who were on duty that day at the Compliance Center. Guevara explained that he requires this information in order to call them to testify. The Fire Department reported that they have ruled out that the fire was caused by human error. Now everything points to the tear gas canisters that were used.
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Original Source: Panama-Guide
Date Retrieved: January 14, 2010
