El Salvador police chief and accused embezzler killed in helicopter crash

The head of El Salvador's police forces and a man arrested on charges of a multi-million dollar embezzlement were killed when the military helicopter in which they were travelling crashed on Sunday night, the government said.

Seven other people also died in the crash in the Pasaquina district in the southeast of El Salvador near the border with Honduras.

Police director Mauricio Arriaza was escorting the former head of a credit union, Manuel Coto, back to El Salvador in the helicopter.

Coto, who was accused of embezzling $35 million, had been arrested earlier on Sunday in Honduras after attempting to flee to the United States. He was subsequently handed over to Salvadoran police.

The seven other people who died in the crash included three police officers, three servicemen and a Justice Ministry employee, according to the military and the ministry.

Authorities have not provided any further details about the accident or its cause.

"What happened cannot remain a simple 'accident.' It must be investigated thoroughly and to its finality," President Nayib Bukele wrote on X.

He praised Arriaza for his contribution to national security and his roles in various police operations.

Bukele appointed Arriaza in 2019 to head up the national police. Arriaza has helped lead a nationwide crackdown on gangs that has driven down the country's homicide rate, but has also drawn criticism from human rights groups for the campaign's arbitrary arrests.

In 2022, Human Rights Watch called on other countries to impose travel bans and asset freezes against a series of high-level Salvadoran officials, including Arriaza, saying that while he was at the helm the national police "has been responsible for widespread human rights violation".

The US Ambassador to El Salvador, William Duncan, said on X he "sends condolences to the families, the police, the government and to all the Salvadorans for this terrible tragedy".