Azores Situation Report Wednesday 29th November 2023
São Miguel and Santa Maria Islands with yellow warning due to rain and thunderstorms.
The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) placed the islands in the Eastern group of the Azores under yellow warning this Tuesday due to forecasts of rain and thunderstorms.
The yellow warning for the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria, due to the possibility of “sometimes heavy precipitation, which may be accompanied by thunderstorms”, will be in effect between 11pm today and 11am on Wednesday.
The yellow warning, the least serious on a scale of three, is issued by IPMA whenever there is a risk situation for certain activities depending on the meteorological situation.
Man suspected of killing two friends and burning bodies began to be tried in the Azores.
The Court of São Roque do Pico, in the Azores, began, on Monday, to judge a man who is suspected of having killed two friends and burned their bodies in September last year.
The trial starts this Tuesday at 9:30 am.
The defendant is in preventive detention at the Horta Prison, on the island of Faial.
António Carvalho, the defendant’s lawyer, told journalists, before the start of the session, that the defence will present evidence that the prosecution “has no legs to walk”.
According to the lawyer, the suspect will give statements during the trial and will “declare, initially, innocent”.
According to the prosecution, the man’s two German friends, disappeared after visiting some land around the suspect’s house in which they were interested.
The detainee is accused of allegedly committing five crimes, two of qualified homicide, two of desecration of a corpse and one of possession of a prohibited weapon.
The suspect’s wife, who was subject to an identity and residence permit, is also a defendant and will be charged with two alleged crimes of desecration of a corpse and one of possession of a prohibited weapon.
In a statement, the PJ said that the investigation began on September 11th, 2022, “after reporting the disappearance of two men, aged 74 and 65, both residing on the island of Pico”.
“Evidence was gathered that the two missing men were victims of homicide crimes, with subsequent concealment of the bodies.
According to the police, during the house searches of the suspect’s residence, “two legal firearms were seized, in addition to several illegal weapons, namely a box cutter with an attached blade, several daggers and a silencer, compatible with a firearm.
Azores Airlines and Sata Air Açores with more passengers transported compared to 2019.
Azores Airlines, the airline that provides connections between the Azores and abroad, recorded an increase in passengers transported of around 62% in the third quarter of this year, compared to 2019.
According to a press release from Grupo SATA, which cites data from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), SATA Air Açores, which provides connections between the nine islands of the Azores, showed an increase of around 37% in the number of passengers transported during the third quarter, compared to 2019, pre-covid-19 pandemic.
“The SATA Group airlines once again surpassed themselves by reaching the symbolic mark of one million passengers transported in 2023, around two months earlier than recorded in the previous year. The evolution represented a 34% growth in the number of passengers transported, compared to the same period last year”, said the airline