Posted on 11/16/2007 8:42:31 AM PST by Restore
First Story that Broke:
TWO KILLED TWO INJURED
Two members of a television news crew have been killed and as many injured in a helicopter crash in the capital of Mexico's northernmost state of Baja California, Spanish news agency EFE reported Wednesday.
According to state prosecutor Francisco Javier Alcazar Jimenez, the helicopter, carrying the news crew, crashed here Tuesday afternoon when it became tangled in high tension wires overhead and the pilot lost control of the aircraft.
The news crew were to cover the 'Baja 1000 Road Race', in which some 500 teams from all over the world are participating in various categories, including automobiles and motorcycles.
Jimenez said that the landing gears of the aircraft got tangled in the electric cable running between poles near the San Pedro Martir mountains, and pilot Isaac Sarabia lost control. The chopper crashed just a few metres away from galleries where spectators were sitting.
The two TV cameramen on board, Juan Pablo Gonzalez and Israel Romero Reyes, were killed but Sarabia and co-pilot Rodolfo Calvillo survived the crash.
Source: bajasafari.blogspot.com
Then this story:
Group steals body from morgue in Mexico, kills 2 police officers
Mexico City, November 15, SPA -- An armed group of some 50 people stole the corpse of an alleged drug boss from a morgue in the northern Mexican town of Ensenada, in the state of Baja California, and killed two police officers, authorities said Thursday, according to DPA.
The commando group, which also kidnapped two forensic experts, arrived late Wednesday at Ensenada's Forensic Medicine Service to take the body. The authorities had previously refused to hand it over to two people who had requested it because they did not have the required documents.
The deceased, initially identified as Pablo Gonzalez, is allegedly Fabian Martinez, alias "The Shark," the alleged boss of the brothers Arellano Felix drug cartel.
Gonzalez died Wednesday in a helicopter crash as he was following the Baja Mil car race from the air. The helicopter touched a wire and fell to the ground, leaving two dead and two injured.
Television cited Baja California Justice officials as saying the armed group that took the body travelled in eight to 10 vehicles. No one had been arrested in connection with the case, and the two forensic experts remained missing Thursday.
Source: spa.gov.sa
Yes, hmmmm.
Is this correct? Or is this a reconquesta reference?
It is correct.
Baja is that penisula that parallels the coast on the Pacific side.
There’s actually a reverse reconquista going on in the area, as American retirees move down for affordable housing and care.
Maybe, but the race has been around for a long time — it’s pretty cool.
I’ve always wanted to run the Baha since I was little kid. I need to get to work on that!
“UNEXPECTED NEWS AT BAJA 1000”
What kind of title is that? Is a helicopter crash ever “expected”?
Oh you don’t have to splain to me about the history of the Baja 1000. I was there in 77. My husband used to race the Baja 1000, Mexicali 250 and the Parker 400.
I did one of the short-legs (not the full 1000 — think it was 200miles) that is on the street in an old Porsche 356. Had a lot of fun.
Time: 1hour, 42 minutes. Lots of turns, lots of bad road.
Beat much newer cars that lacked 50’s ground clearence.
It would have given the country a certain symmetry, balancing Florida nicely...
I think that the article title was referring to the drug lord twist (read the second part).
In 1965, two friends and I spent three weeks camping out all over Mexico. Would we do it again today? Nada!
NASCAR driver Robby Gordon, who sometimes drives stock cars like he is high on drugs, finished 3rd in class and 5th overall in this race.
Fantastic! I think the ultimate would be on a motorcycle at Baha. You’d have to be something of a bada$$ to make it the whold 1000 miles on a bike.
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