Rescue team finds 6 year old who drowned in Mopan

One more victim who perished in the recent flooding has been located. She is six year old Estephany Diana Ortiz from the village of Arenal on the Belize/Guatemala border. Ortiz was found today in the Mopan River by her father, thirty-four year old Jose Mendez.

Pablo Chan, Chairman, Info. Committee, NEMO Cayo
“At ten-thirty this morning the body of a young female child was found floating on the water between the Arenal, Guatemala Melchor area. It was retrieved by the father, Mr Jose Mendez. It was given to Melchor authorities. It was discovered on the Guatemalan side by the father and was taken straight to Melchor.”

The child was with her family last Friday when the canoe they were traveling in from Melchor de Mencos capsized due to the strong currents of the Mopan River. The bodies of seventeen year old Elsa Romero and fifty-three year old Tomasa Mendez have been retrieved.