Rolando Alemán León, 55 years old, is the confirmed Cuban among the five fatalities from the Amazon cargo plane accident that went off the runway at the Miami International Airport last Sunday, according to reported Telemundo 51 while identifying the deceased.
Alemán León had just started working in January at the cleaning company Professional Ocean Service Corp., a contractor for aircraft maintenance services at that airport.
The mentioned media reported that a neighbor of the Cuban described him as a very kind person who helped her by taking her to her medical appointments.
The other four victims, also employees of the same company, were identified this Tuesday by Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz: Yoel Rodríguez Naranjo, 53 years old; Julio C. Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.
Everyone was traveling in a white 2012 Ford Econoline van that was carrying seven workers inside the airport when it was struck by the aircraft.
The accident occurred when the Boeing 767-300 operated by 21 Air for Amazon Air, arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, overshot the end of runway 30 and traveled approximately 396 meters beyond the pavement before coming to a stop.
After hitting navigation equipment and wrecking the van, the airplane broke through a perimeter fence, collided with a Toyota Corolla Cross LE that was driving on Northwest 67th Avenue outside the airport, and continued on until it crashed into a fence that separated an area where Tesla robotaxis were parked.
The new details of the air tragedy in Miami indicate that it was the aircraft's third flight of the day: it had operated the Cincinnati-Miami route, then Miami-San Juan, and was returning from Puerto Rico when the incident occurred.
The two pilots, Jaime Felipe Silva Molina, 37 years old, and Joseph Carol, 55, survived and were discharged.
Three people remain hospitalized: Eugenio Corredor, 79 years old, and Ridoel Averhoff Díaz, 32, in critical condition, and Roosevelt Sebastian Perdomo Torres, 36, in stable condition.
The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy, described the scene as one of "total devastation," with pieces of vehicles, airbag components, destroyed navigation equipment, and jet fuel scattered throughout the area 24 hours after the accident.
The video of the pilot escaping from the Amazon plane as it was burning was recorded by a witness who was passing through the vicinity of the airport with his family.
The NTSB is leading the federal investigation along with the FAA; the black boxes —the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder— have been recovered and sent to Washington for analysis.
Professional Ocean Service Corp. stated in a statement that its employees "are family and are deeply loved," adding: "Our hearts and prayers are with every employee and every family whose lives have changed forever."
Sheriff Cordero-Stutz addressed the victims' families in Spanish during the press conference: "To the families, I want to say that you are not alone. We are here to support you."
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