Driver convicted in deaths of eight Puerto Rican inmates

San Juan, April 3 (IANS/EFE) A jury in Puerto Rico found a driver guilty of the deaths of eight prisoners who drowned when the vehicle he was transporting them in between prison and the courthouse was submerged by floodwaters in the northern city of Arecibo.

The jury, comprising nine women and three men, found Hector Cruz Santiago guilty of negligently driving the van the inmates from the Sabana Hoyos prison were riding in and causing their deaths last November.

Two other prisoners in the group of 10 who were being transported to court appointments were rescued by Corrections Department personnel.

At that time, the director of the state Emergency Management Agency, Nino Correa, confirmed that all the prisoners were handcuffed and had their feet shackled, which made it practically impossible for them to be able to swim.

Preliminary versions of the incident were that Cruz Santiago decided to drive across a stream in which the water level had risen due to heavy downpours, and the current swept the van downriver.

--IANS/EFE

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