About 21 families were affected by a fire yesterday morning in an old wooden house, number 3026, located on 12th Street and Domingo Diaz in Colon. At 11:00 am residents saw smoke coming out of a room and raised the alarm, yelling "Fire! Fire! The house is on fire!" Luisa Torres, a witness, said luckily they were able to remove some of their belongings and the speedy arrival of the firefighters prevented even more families from becoming homeless, despite the lack of water. The Commander of the Fire Department of Colon, Leonardo Roman, said they used six trucks to put out the fire, and they were forced to use sea water, preventing serious consequences. Representatives from the Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Miviot) will make an assessment of the property through their Department of Social Services to undertake repairs. The Representative from the Southern District, Alex Lee, and the Deputy Mayor of the District, Rosa Vasquez, also arrived on the scene to provide support and assistance to the ten families who were left homeless by the fire, and the eleven families whose houses were damaged by water. The National Police guarded the scene to prevent the intrusion those who were not owners. (Source: Mi Diario)
After several hours stranded at sea, a group of five people were rescued near Isla Melones in the waters of the Pacific Ocean near Panama, after the boat they were riding in suffered a mechanical breakdown, flipped over, and sank. One woman and four men were rescued and taken early this morning to the dock at Rodman after being rescued by personnel from the Panama's Naval Air Service. The castaways departed from Isla Taboga with a destination of Veracruz, but the boat they were riding in had some mechanical difficulties, and two large waves sunk them. They managed to stay afloat by clinging to coolers and fuel tanks. (Source: Telemetro Reporta)
The Public Ministry is working to determine who is responsible for the fire in the banking district that destroyed more than 20 cars and damaged a building. An investigation has been opened to determine if the incident was intentionally caused. The explosion and fire occurred when an LPG tanker truck from the Tropigas company was preparing to refill a gas tank of a restaurant in the building, but before the driver could begin to deliver fuel there was a massive leak in one of the valves, causing the release of the propane gas and causing the fire. The Auxiliary Prosecutor is investigating the case in order to clarify whether there was any intentional cause. The case is in the Division of Crimes against the Collective Security. (Source: Telemetro Reporta)
By DON WINNER for 
The general director of Panama's National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC), Arturo Alvarado, said he would meet today with Panama City Mayor Bosco Vallarino to discuss the explosion and explosion caused by an LPG tank in the banking area yesterday. At about 1:52 p.m. yesterday an LPG tank truck from the Tropigas company suffered an accident while the truck's crew was making a deliver to a restaurant in the area, spilling liquefied petroleum which cause several explosions and fires. The incident caused considerable damage in the building as well as vehicles that were parked in the area, and the force of the explosion blew out some window in surrounding buildings. Allen said that although you can not stop the development of the country, extreme measures must be taken to ensure a similar situation does not occur again some time in the future. "The country's development must go hand in hand with the safety and security of the Panamanian people," said Alvarado during an interview on TVN Channel 2. (Source: La Prensa) 
Two masked men armed, entered the house of a family in Las Lajas in Las Cumbres and took away computers, luxury watches, other valuables, and cash, after killing two dogs. So far no arrests have been made. Neighbors in the area told TVN News that is not the first time this kind of robbery has happened, although most of the houses are participating in the neighborhood watch program. Some of the houses have taken extreme security measures such as with the installation of razor wire, tall fences, and surveillance cameras, but residence agree there should be more police patrols in the area. (Source: TVN Noticas)
The regional office of the National Civil Protection System in Colon ordered the closure of Devil's Beach on Fort Sherman in Panama where two people drowned last weekend. Jaime Ospina, SINAPROC regional director, said the beach area was cordoned off and swimmers are forbidden from using the area because it's not safe. According to the official, they will coordinate with other sectors of security to prevent swimmers from entering the area. (Source: Telemetro Reporta)
Rangers of the National Environmental Authority (ANAM), together with members of the Fire Department from Bugaba and environmental volunteers, managed to control a forest fire in the Volcán Barú National Park in the province of Chiriquí. The forest fire occurred in a place called Cerro Pelota, in the town of Potrero Seco, in the Volcán Barú National Park, affecting about seven hectares of protected areas. The fire threatened to enter the forest, which is a serious risk to the ecosystem of the national park, said Harmodio Cerrud, the Regional ANAM Administrator, who also announced an investigation to determine the causes and those responsible for the fire. (Source: TVN Noticias)
The driver of a white Nissan Sentra was killed as his car was crushed by the front end of a bus on Saturday morning, in a horrific accident that occurred on Vía España. The bus driver could not explain how the car ended up in his lane and he had no time to hit the brakes or avoid the collision. The driver of the car died on impact. According to witnesses, the young man who was driving home apparently fell asleep at the wheel, causing the accident. The bus was heading toward Panama City. The accident happened in Pedregal in front of the neighborhood of Santa Isabel. The coroner and officials from the prosecutor's office identified the victim as Trinidad Amores. There were several other traffic accidents on Saturday morning and several people were taken in serious condition to the Santo Tomas hospital. There was a collision between two vehicles near Howard, one person was run over in La Pulida, and there was another accident in the area of Roosevelt. (Source: Telemetro)
Panic and nervousness took hold of employees and customers of the Rodelag company in the city of David, after a devastating fire ripped through one of their warehouses at approximately 3:45 pm yesterday. The fire gained strength when it reached a large stockpile of tires, paint, mattresses and other flammable materials, forcing about 45 employees and customers to leave the building quickly. Due to the intensity of the uncontrollable fire, fire trucks from David, Bugaba, Dolega, and the Enrique Malek airport responded to the scene - in total eight fire trucks and two water tanker trucks from IDAAN were used to fight the fire. Two firemen were treated for smoke inhalation. Losses are estimated at about $1.5 million dollars. There were no fatalities or serious injuries. The fire was presumably caused by an electrical short short circuit in the warehouse. (Source: Evelio Valdés for El Siglo)
At 3:45 p.m. today a fire started in the Rodelag warehouse in the City of David. Employees were evacuated immediately and electricity was cut to the sector. Three fire trucks from the David Fire Department arrived on the scene. Firefighters have reported that there is not enough water pressure in the fire hydrants, and this has complicated their work. It was also reported the firemen are using a tanker normally stationed at the David airport. (Source: Flor Bocharel O. for La Prensa)
Even though he was sitting in the last seat in the back of the bus that crashed on the Coastal Strip on Sunday, 24 year-old Esteban Ortega was the most seriously injured. He was trapped for several hours under the twisted metal of the bus, losing part of the skin of his right arm and the tendons of three of his fingers. He will have to undergo 10 operations to regain some mobility. Esteban, who was going to work on the day of the accident, is hospitalized in the Punta Pacifica hospital where he was taken by coworkers when they saw that the Social Security hospital was not providing the necessary care. "We have to pay $3,000 so far, and if we don't then they won't do the second of ten operations that he needs," said Esteban's mother this morning on TVN Noticias. Esteban said that now nothing will be the same, and that it will take about six months to recover from his injuries. Panama's president Ricardo Martinelli promised to pay for the operation they will do on Esteban today, however Esteban's family members are worried because they do not know how they will pay the following surgeries. It's worth mentioning that the 20 year-old bus driver who crashed was racing with another bus. What's more, an hour prior to the accident he was stopped by ATTT inspectors, to whom he paid a bribe and they let him go. (Source: TVN Noticias)
TVN Noticias - The residents of Calle 13 in Santa Ana live in fear after the collapse of the old structures they inhabit. Yesterday a wall of an old house collapsed and two people including an 80 year-old woman, were injured. According to residents, the property owners did not do what is necessary to safeguard their lives, although the Director of the Historical Heritage organization told TVN News that you can not tear down a structure without first conducting an evaluation. Some local residents said the problem is not only the age of the structures, but also the old bathrooms, and they say that they use two, one upstairs and one downstairs, and that "organic waste" from above falls down to the bathroom below. Yarisel Mendez, a mother of four children, including one who is disabled, said she could not bathe the baby and the place is unsafe, and that in the area there are abandoned buildings that serve only as mosquito breeding sites. (Editor's Comment: This kind of thing happens about once a year in Casco Viejo. These old buildings are falling apart and the owners often don't give a damn about preventative maintenance - they just let them go until something actually falls down, like in this case.)
