One of those accused of causing blackout at AILA airstrip turns himself in

One of two brothers accused of stealing electrical cables from the Las Américas International Airport (AILA) turned himself into the Santo Domingo Este Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the case.

This is Luis Ángel Álvarez, 20 years old, who came voluntarily accompanied by family members after being searched by police and State security agencies.

The young man is accused of the theft of part of the electrical cables of the AILA landing strips, which caused an interruption in the lighting system and the closure of the terminal operations for about 4 hours.

The failure also caused some 14 flights flying over the airport’s airspace to be diverted to other alternate airports in the area.

An aunt of the young man, who did not identify herself, explained that the investigators have no proof of his nephew’s participation in this event, which various sectors of society have repudiated.

“We decided to bring him because they have no proof of anything, so we decided to hand him over to the Prosecutor’s Office, to end this persecution that has us nervous and terrified the whole family,” said the woman.

The relatives of the accused brothers expressed that they are dedicated to searching the airport garbage and are not guilty of the accusations made by the authorities.

President Luis Abinader recently declared that the police and military authorities hold two people in detention concerning the case and are pursuing three others who are presumed to have participated in the incident.