The head of El Salvador’s police, a leading figure in the fight against armed gangs, died in a helicopter crash while retrieving a fugitive from Honduras, the Salvadoran military announced Monday.
Police chief Mauricio Arriaza was escorting Manuel Coto, a former director of a financial institution accused of major embezzlement, aboard a military helicopter that crashed in the San Eduardo sector, 180 km northeast of the capital San Salvador, the armed forces said on the social network X.
“We regret to announce the death of all those who were traveling” on board the aircraft, they said. Rescue teams had gone to the scene “in order to provide the necessary assistance”said the civil protection services on X. Manuel Coto, who had fled to Honduras where he was arrested, is accused of having embezzled some 35 million dollars as former director of the Santa Victoria Savings and Credit Cooperative (Cosavi).
Following the incident, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced the opening of an investigation. “What happened cannot remain a simple accident, it must be the subject of a thorough investigation”the president said on X, specifying that he would ask for a «assistance internationale».
Nayib Bukele, very popular for his war against criminal gangs and re-elected last February, paid tribute to the police chief, a “fundamental piece to bring peace and security to our people”. “We will investigate to the end but nothing will give us back our national hero”he added.
