Goñi: "It is very painful to have to come and retrieve a close friend"

SANTIAGO.- Minister of Defense José Goñi, who is heading the entourage to repatriate the remains of General José Bernales, his wife and the rest of the plane crash victims (who tragically perished yesterday in Panama) has announced that the victims´ bodies could arrive back in Chile before noon on Saturday.

Goñi added that the group has already met with the minister of Justice and Government, Daniel Delgado, who confirmed that the six bodies of the Chilean victims had been “positively identified”.  “We have met with national police leaders and we will soon meet with the President Torrijo”, he added.

Noticeably afflicted, the minister stated, “it is very painful to have to come and retrieve my close friend, Alejandro, Teresa, Óscar…Commander Tapia, his wife, Commander Orozco and Capitain Fuenzalida, it is something I really never would have imagined”.