Miguel Angel Mantilla, Peruvian Red Cross
Twelve Peruvian Red Cross volunteers were quickly deployed to the scene of a fatal air crash on Tuesday 23 August. The volunteers, all from the Coronel Portillo Branch, joined the emergency rescue effort and tended to the 52 survivors.
The accident happened when the pilot of a Boeing 737-200 made an emergency landing during a heavy storm near Pucallpa airport, Ucayali. The plane crashed and burst into flames in swampland in Peru’s northeastern jungle.
Police have confirmed that at least 40 people were killed. A Red Cross ambulance helped to transport the bodies of victims to the morgue .
Manuela Seijas Pérez, president of the Coronel Portillo Branch, said the Red Cross volunteers worked closely with the fire service emergency units, the national police and the Ministry of Health in the search and rescue effort. Many of the crash survivors were suffering from severe burns and multiple fractures.
Among the survivors are 11 Americans, two Italians, a Colombian, a Spaniard and an Australian. Official confirmation of the names of the survivors is awaited. Most received emergency treatment at local hospitals. The Peruvian Red Cross is now ready to offer psychological support to the relatives of the victims and the survivors.
The crash comes a week after a Colombian jet crashed in Venezuela killing all 160 people on board. Most of the victims were French citizens from the Caribbean island of Martinique. The Venezuelan Red Cross worked together with the French Red Cross to give psychological support to victims’ families.