In the Benque Viejo area, the Mopan River has receded slightly, but still searchers have not found the body of the only casualty of the flooding so far, 65 year old farmer Carlos Rito Valdez. As we reported last night, Valdez was paddling his canoe across the Mopan River returning form his farm with plantains when the canoe capsized. Another man who was with him, Luis Baron managed to swim to safety, but Valdez and the canoe went under and did not resurface.
Today, a body recovery team conducted a surface search downriver, looking at areas where the body may have gotten caught. They looked all morning but found nothing. The river is still too perilous to conduct searches in canoes or boats, and the search will continue tomorrow.
In other flood news from the Cayo district, the low lying temporary bridge remains submerged and closed to traffic.
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