Another deadly Holy Week in Central America this year put a damper on the otherwise sublime holiday in the run-up to Easter Sunday.
At least 55 people died in Honduras over the past week, according to a preliminary report released on Sunday by the National Commission on Accident Prevention, or CONAPRA.
The report said that 31 people died in traffic accidents while 24 drowned at various beach resorts around the country.
Another 86 people were injured on the small Central American nation’s roadways in at least 61 traffic accidents.
The number of fatalities during Holy Week this year was more than 10 percent greater than the death toll during the same period in 2008.
In neighboring Nicaragua, at least 67 people died between April 4-11, according to preliminary data released by the Interinstitutional Commission on accident prevention.
Data compiled from the Intur tourism institute, the National Police, the Managua Fire Department, the Nicaraguan Red Cross and the ministries of environment, natural resources and health revealed that 16 homicides and 18 traffic accident deaths occurred throughout the country during this past week, according to National Police security chief Francisco Diaz.
He said that the number of murders was the same as tallied last year during the same period, but there were nine more traffic deaths than were registered during Holy Week in 2008.
Health Minister Guillermo Gonzalez said that there were 33 drownings at various water resorts and beaches around the country, the same number as occurred last year during this time.
