A 43-year-old man disappeared in the waters of the “El Carrizal” dam in the province of Mendozaafter the boat in which he was with two other occupants who were able to reach the coast and ask for help capsized. They have been looking for it for more than 24 hours.
It all started this Saturday afternoon. From a campsite located on the west bank of the reservoir, belonging to the city of Luján de Cuyo, they notified the authorities about the incident suffered by a boat in which three older men were sailing.
According to local media, The crew members were fishing, when they were surprised by a strong wind from the south quadrant and the boat flipped. After the incident, two of them were able to swim to shore. However, the third is still missing.
Minutes later, a crew of Firefighters and personnel from the Nautical section of the Directorate of Renewable Natural Resources, were present at the scene to rake the area and try to find the man who, they estimate, was submerged.
Sources from the Municipality of Godoy Cruz told Telam that the crew members are co-workers from the Urban Hygiene area of the aforementioned municipality, bordering the provincial capital.
Although the identity of the missing man was not officially reported, as confirmed by Infobae, it is Darío Palma, deputy director of Urban Hygiene of Godoy Cruz.
At the moment, the Civil Defense of Mendoza indicated that Divers are still working and sailing in search of the victim of the incident.
The low temperature of the water, which reached -3°C at midnight on Saturday, in addition to the cloudy sky that makes visibility difficult, make the rescuers’ task more difficult..
“The water is so cold that the divers begin to have hypothermia and have to interrupt their work,” sources of the investigation explained to this medium.
Through her Facebook account, one of the victim’s sisters, vanina palm, made a post asking for a prayer chain. “My God, help me now in this time of despair. I ask everyone to pray, to pray for my brother Darío, who is being intensely searched for in El Carrizal.”, wrote the woman.
Hours later, Vanina used the networks again and shared a photo with her brother. “God bring me home please, there are a lot of things to do,” she said next to an image of the day Darío graduated as a Technician in Public Administration and Management.
The “El Carrizal” dam is located in the upper middle course of the Tunuyán River, in the center-north of the Province of Mendoza, upstream from the city of Rivadavia. Next to the lake there are two towns: El Carrizal, on the west bank, and Villa San Isidro, on the east bank.
The reservoir is used to regulate the flow of the Tunuyán River, which has glacial sources from the Andes, and for irrigation of a very arid region. The water mirror is a tourist attraction, where fishing, windsurfing, sailing, and other things take place. On its banks, in addition, campsites are usually made.
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