A day out with friends and family
in Calasparra ended in tragedy and now, as more details are revealed, the
Guardia Civil say the swimmer who died on Sunday, may have jumped into a pit at
the side of the river and become entangled in the reeds.
The victim´s brother described a day out with family and friends, which rapidly
turned into a tragedy.
“ We all jumped into the river as a group. He was the last to jump,” relates
the brother. “When we reached the bottom of the descent we saw he was missing
and began to panic.”
They called 112, the emergency services at 4.40pm to report that one of the group
had not come out of the river while the others had not encountered problems.
The Guardia Civil believe the deceased jumped into a three meter water pit
along the banks of the river, with dense vegetation. “He may have been overwhelmed
by the plants and unable to free himself,” said an agent.
After a fruitless search on Sunday the body of the 35 year old Ecuatorian man
from Lorca was found near a river bank at 10.30am on Monday.
The Guardia Civil underlined the danger of bathing in these swimming areas.
Swimmers take advantage of the currents, diving in from high points, to body
surf down the river to the dam. “Some currents are slow and tranquil,” he said,
“but others are not.”
A rice farmer from the area said there was a central bank in the river with
very shallow water but the river was very deep either side. He added: “A lot of
people come and swim at the weekends and have fun and there has never been a
tragedy like this.”
A specialist psychologist has been supporting the family of the victim.
