At about 16:00 hours on Saturday, the alert arrived at Salvamento Marítimo: a skiff in difficulties in the high seas near Formentera. An operation was quickly deployed, although upon arrival they found a much more complex scenario than expected: a shipwreck, 11 people trying to stay afloat, one seriously injured and several dead immigrants.
The boat had been wrecked and the crew members were fighting for their lives in the midst of a strong swell and icy waters, without any elements to maintain buoyancy. Therefore, every minute was crucial. The deployment of the rescue forces managed to prevent the tragedy from becoming even greater. When they arrived at the scene, they were able to recover the bodies of two lifeless people, in addition to transferring another in serious condition who, fortunately, recovered favorably and was already discharged from the Can Misses Hospital in Ibiza.
Testimonial
La Voz de Ibiza accessed details of the operation that demanded the deployment of the helicopter Helimer of Salvamento Marítimo and a plane of the air service of the Guardia Civil. The head of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in the Balearic Islands, José Ramón Crespi, said that “it was a very complicated rescue due to the swell in the area and that the water temperature was very cold”.
The precarious vessel had been wrecked 60 miles off the coast of Ibiza and Formentera, throwing its crew members, who were barely afloat, into the freezing sea. In this sense, Crespi detailed that “none of those rescued had a life jacket or any other means of buoyancy“. Thanks to the coordination of agencies and the rapid mobilization of means, “11 people were located and rescued alive“, he said.
Victims
At first, the emergency teams managed to recover two lifeless bodies. However, as the hours went by, based on the testimonies of the rest of the immigrants, it was learned that between 5 and 6 more people lost their lives.
“After the open investigation and according to the statement of the crew members, they could have died in the accident between 5 and 6 immigrants whose bodies could not be found by Maritime Rescue,” said Monday from the Civil Guard. According to the Civil Guard, the boat was traveling at an unduly high speed in view of the bad sea conditions, with the consequent danger for the crew and the skippers themselves.
The two bosses behind bars
The judicial authority has decreed this Monday provisional imprisonment for the two skippers of the skiff after giving judicial statement and being accused of a crime of reckless homicide and against foreign citizens. After the open investigation, according to the statement of the crew members, 5 or 6 immigrants could have drowned in the journey, whose bodies could not be located by Maritime Rescue.
