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Fotógrafo del Dept de Prensa Comandos de Salvamento
Rescue

Flood: Rain Season Rescues in San Salvador

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EMTs from CDS attended to more than one hundred and fifty people that had to be saved from imminent danger due to the strong storm that hit the capitol of San Salvador.

At about 6:20 pm units from CDS headed towards Villa Esperanza on the KM 34 highway that goes from San Juan Opico to Quetzaltepeque to  evacuate 45 people from their residences that were in danger due to an overflowing creek flooding their temporary homes.  The rising waters of about 50 cm worried the residents that opted out to stay in the zone waiting for the water to level off.

Inundaciones en San Salvador
During these rescue operations, 24 yo Roberto Guardado was attended too.  He was driving a motorcycle along with his partner, 29 yo Xiomara Beatriz Vásquez and did not realize what he was driving into and crashed.  Both were taken to Fosalud de Quezaltepequefor medical attention.

At about the same time, CDS helped a driver of a vehicle with license plates 568-424, who had become trapped inside his car, without it starting, due to getting stuck in the middle of the flood.  Another CDS rescue event happened at the entrance to colonia Sierra Morena where a microbus that transported more than 20 members of the Church of Cannan were rescued when they were trapped in their vehicle in a deep area of the flooding street at the entrance to the colonia.  The evangelicals were taken out one by one from the microbus to be brought to a safe zone while the water level stabilized.  They then could retrieve there vehicle.  A similiar event happened when about 45 passengers of the route 29 bus with plates AB 70-511 experienced some anguised minutes of being trapped at the entrance to colonia Santa Lucía where year after year there are constant floodings during strong storms.

According to the driver, the force of the current had suprised him, leaving him and his passengers trapped in the middle of the flood. CDS rescue workers arrived to help.

In addition, EMTS from CDS outstation Antiguo Cuscatlan warned  vehicles that were traveling south on Highway lane leading from west to east, about a crack that was formed on the stretch of road near the democracy tower that reached close to three meters and 40 centimeters wide.

Traffic during the great storm was suspended to avoid any tragedy.

International

Gunfight Ends International Student Trip

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U.S. students and specialists from the University of Des Moines Global Health program who had been participating for three days with personnel of CDS, left the country on Thursday the 19th following a shootout in which one child and a gang member died.

The incident occurred at 3:35 pm a few meters from where the health brigade consults were taking place, in San Bartolo, Ilopango.

According to police, apparently some people that appeared to be gang members came to kill 16 yo Julio Palacios. Two stray bullets killed 10 yo child Jorge Alberto Figueroa, 10, who was in a soccer field at a nearby school and injured another child named, “Steven”, who was attending the health consult. According to Dr. Luis Delgado of CDS, the foreign visitors notified their authority figures at Drake University in Des Moines Iowa.

“We were informed that they left between 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning (yesterday), it is a pity because they are bringing back with them a bad impression of our country. The health brigade consults were scheduled to end on Saturday”, said Delgado. There were a total of eighteen students and five experts who participated for two days giving consults in Alegría, Usulután and La Herradura (La Paz).

Moreover, the Director of Education Department of San Salvador, Bartolome Gil lamented the death of the child Jorge Figueroa, a student of Centro Escolar San Bartolo. He also demanded the police to make greater efforts to provide greater surveillance and security. Comandos de Salvamento, and students themselves transported those afflicted with gunshots to surrounding hospitals.