Forensic teams from Canada and Spain completed this Saturday the identification of the nine deceased in the sinking of the Spanish fishing vessel Villa de Pitanxo in Canadian waters, which correspond to five Spanish sailors, three Peruvians and one Ghanaian.
The information was transferred to the families, who are being cared for by a team of psychologists specialized in disaster management, the Government delegation in the region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, where the fishing boat came from, reported in a statement.
The deceased are Fernando Santomé, the ship’s cook; Miguel Lumbres, a Peruvian sailor, who had relieved a positive for COVID-19, and Rogelio Franco, originally from Peru and a kitchen assistant, whose remains will be repatriated to his native country, as was his wish in case something happened to him in Spain or another place in the world.
They also include Juan Antonio Cordero, the second employer, who had a month left to retire; the Peruvian William Arévalo; Spaniard Ricardo Alfonso, oiler on the ship; Apaanah Pelungo Zure, who was participating for the first time in the halibut fishery in Newfoundland, and the Peruvians Daniel More and Diego More -uncle and nephew-.
The Spanish ship Playa Menduiña Dos arrived at the port of San Juan de Terranova this Saturday with the three survivors, the skipper Juan Padín, his nephew Eduardo Rial and the Ghanaian Samuel Kwesi, who will undergo medical examinations; and seven of the fatalities, since two had already been disembarked on Friday when the Nexus ship that carried them docked.
As reported by the Government delegation in Galicia in the note provided to the media, the Executive of Pedro Sánchez will charter an A-400 plane from the Air Force this Sunday for the repatriation of the three survivors and the bodies of the nine who died in as much as possible.
The Government Delegation in Galicia, on behalf of the Spanish Government, thanks in the note the “excellent work and commitment” of the Canadian authorities and the consulate, as well as the collaboration and coordination with the shipowner (Grupo Nores).
It also reiterates its “full support and sorrow” to the families of the disappeared and deceased, for whom official mourning has been decreed throughout Spain next Monday.
The Villa de Pitanxo was engulfed by the sea on the Great Bank of Newfoundland, about 460 kilometers east of San Juan.
It had a crew of 24 people, of which half remain missing.
On Wednesday, the Canadian authorities decided to put an end to the search and rescue tasks 36 hours after the incident due to the lack of possibilities of finding half of the crew alive.
The victims want that tracking to be reactivated as soon as the weather allows it.
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Source: Gestion
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