BELIZE CITY, Belize (12 Oct 2001) -- The bodies of 17 Richmond Dive Club members killed Monday by Hurricane Iris along the coast of Belize will be sent back to the United States for autopsies as early as today. Cpl. Fernando Rosado, of the Belize City Police Department, said plans are in the works to charter a private plane to bring the victims back as quickly as possible, though it could be a few days. "The doctor is looking at the bodies at this moment. A death certificate will be issued for each of the bodies . . . but a real autopsy will not be conducted [in Belize]," he said. The American embassy in Belize is coordinating with the medical examiner to arrange shipment of the bodies back to the United States, said Christopher Lamora, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs. Before that happens, the bureau must issue a mortuary certificate to U.S. Customs. The medical examiner in Belize has preliminarily determined that all the victims aboard the Wave Dancer died by drowning, said Louis Belisle, an undertaker assisting with the victims. Belisle said he was waiting yesterday afternoon for caskets to arrive. It was unclear who would be sending the caskets, but Belisle said he was working with the U.S. Embassy in Belize. "We want to send the bodies home as soon as possible," he said. Belisle, who is assisting the local Belize medical examiner, said the victims are located at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital morgue in Belize City. He did not know how many were crew and how many were divers. | |
"We are doing as much as we can to clean the bodies and preserve them," he said. "But we will not be conducting any autopsies." Lynn McNeal, co-owner of The Dive Shop on West Broad Street in Richmond, has been providing support to the families of divers. She said the club has received only sketchy reports about the bodies and when they will return. The latest news was that all the Richmond divers' bodies would be flown back to Virginia on Monday, she said. Peter Kirkham's niece, Cheryl Lightbound, was one of the storm victims. She lived in Richmond, but Kirkham and the rest of Lightbound's family are in Calgary, Canada. They have had trouble getting information about when her body will be returned. "We would like to have the body transferred to Calgary, but I don't know if it's going to go directly or through Richmond or what," he said in a phone interview. "No one is telling us." SOURCE - Times Dispatch |
