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A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 9 June 2018
El Salvador prosecutors order arrest of ex-president Funes

By MARCOS ALEMAN za, his ex-wife Regina Ca- has only made incrimina-
Associated Press nas and two of Funes' sons. tions without presenting a
SAN SALVADOR, El Salva- "In the government of Mau- single piece of evidence
dor (AP) — Prosecutors in ricio Funes there were seri- against me," Funes wrote.
El Salvador have ordered ous and outrageous cases Melendez said that Funes
the arrests of former Presi- of corruption in which they stole $292 million from El
dent Mauricio Funes and extracted $351 million from Salvador's mortgage bank,
30 members of his inner public accounts," said Sal- including millions carried
circle on a range of cor- vadoran Attorney General out as cash in plastic gar-
ruption charges for alleg- Douglas Menendez. bage bags.
edly siphoning $351 million Funes immediately mount- Jorge Cortez, head of the
from public coffers, the At- ed a defense via Twitter, Attorney General's finan-
torney General's Office an- taking on charges one by cial investigation unit, said
nounced Friday. one and asking "where was that Funes' partner, Guz-
The 31 arrest orders include In this June 1, 2012 file photo, El Salvador's President Mauricio the crime?" and "what does man Siguenza used some
Funes' private secretary, Funes stands in the National Assembly before speaking to that have to do with me?" of the diverted funds for
his long-time partner Ada commemorate the anniversary of his third year in office in San "It stands out that the (At- cosmetic surgery in Beverly
Salvador, El Salvador.
Mitchelle Guzman Siguen- Associated Press torney General's Office) Hills.q

The Latest: Experts work to ID volcano victims in Guatemala

Associated Press which arrive wrapped in the volcanic flows — to
SAN MIGUEL LOS LOTES, sheets and plastic. First they compare with DNA from
Guatemala (AP) —At check for identifying items the blood of people's
a makeshift morgue in such as clothing, if there is relatives.
Guatemala, forensic any. On one table lies the body
workers are trying to identify Later they will extract of a person frozen statue-
victims of this week's deadly DNA material from the like in death, its stomach
volcanic explosion. bones — the tissue is too distended and a hand
About 15 experts are doing badly damaged by the jutting stiffly outward.
autopsies on the bodies, extreme temperatures of A woman takes notes,

Relatives of Sandra Orizabal Diaz pray during her burial service
at a cemetery in Escuintla, Guatemala, Thursday, June 7, 2018.
Associated Press

and another worker still missing, and the toll
photographs the body. of confirmed dead is
Dozens more bodies are expected to rise.
in white plastic bags on ___
wooden pallets. .
In all, there are 40 corpses Estuardo Hernandez, a
at the morgue, which 19-year-old worker at a
comprise part of the plant nursery in the city of
confirmed death toll of 109. Antigua, is certain he knows
Nearly 200 are said to still where his parents are.
be missing. Hernandez was talking
___ to his father, Margarito
Guatemalan authorities Hernandez, on the phone
have ordered new this week when millions of
evacuations due to activity tons of volcanic ash tore
at the Volcano of Fire, through San Miguel Los
which erupted violently Lotes, a hamlet sitting on
this week killing at least 109 the volcano's slope.
people. "He called me at 3:13
Disaster agency Conred p.m. Sunday," said the
says there were dangerous younger Hernandez, who
flows of volcanic material, was working in Antigua
water and sediment that day. "The last thing he
through four canyons Friday told me was to go far from
morning, and other areas here ... the last thing I could
could also be affected. hear was him saying: 'Get
Conred is telling residents inside! There's a lot of fire
of the town of El Rodeo to out there.'"
leave their homes. Some Hernandez is sure his
had recently returned. parents are buried inside
About 200 people are their home.q