Mayor held in Bolivia for allowing religious fest amid lockdown

A Bolivian mayor and two others were arrested on Tuesday for allowing a religious celebration to take place despite a ban on public gatherings amid the lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police arrested Tiburcio Choque, the mayor of Patacamaya, in western La Paz department, and two organizers of the festival held in honor of the town's patron saint, for endangering public health, the regional prosecutor's office said in a statement.

"The Public Ministry issued the related arrest warrant, which was carried out this Tuesday to begin the investigation into the case," prosecutor Mario Antonio Cossio said.

The three suspects were taken from Patacamaya to a detention facility in the city of La Paz.

The celebration helped to spread the infection, according to the charges.

The festival began March 12 and lasted four days. On March 29, the photographer who documented the event died of coronavirus, alarming locals. Six others have also tested positive in Patacamaya.

Prosecutors said that on March 12, police sent the mayor a written request to cancel the festivities in compliance with the government-imposed quarantine measures, but the request was ignored.

Statistics showed that Bolivia has 194 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths of the disease.