• Shipwreck The message of the survivor of the Pitanxo to his rescuers, a year later: "When I saw you, I knew I was not going to die"
  • Justice The last cries of the sailors of the Villa de Pitanxo: "Release the rigging, you're going to kill us, murderer!"

The underwater Rov that descended this Saturday to check if the metal structure located by the ship 'Ártabro', which is responsible for the search, location and inspection mission of the wreck of the 'Villa de Pitanxo', has confirmed that it is the Galician fishing boat that sank in February 2022 in Newfoundland waters.

After this confirmation, the next task of the operation deployed by the 'Ártabro' will be the recording of the wreck to try to clarify what happened on February 15, 2022, when the shipwreck of the 'Pitanxo' ended the lives of 21 of the 24 sailors on board.

From there, the families of the deceased have tried to find out what happened, so they have always asked to go down to the wreck to look for evidence. After this Friday the 'Ártabro' located a metal structure in the same area in which the 'Pitanxo' had sunk, the families were "expectant and hopeful" waiting to confirm that, indeed, it was the Galician fishing boat.

During the investigation, the judge has taken statements from the skipper of the fishing boat, Juan Padín, as accused, his nephew Eduardo Rial and the sailor Samuel Kwesi, as witnesses, as they are the only survivors of the shipwreck.

The judicial investigation is due to the fact that Samuel Kwesi offered a version that contradicts the one exposed by Padín and Rial, and that would point to possible negligence on the part of these that would have triggered the tragedy.

After taking their statements, the magistrate prohibited the skipper of the fishing boat from leaving Spain, withdrew his passport and imposed the precautionary measure of appearing every fifteen days in court and being located. Now, the inspection of the ship will serve as evidence for the case.

  • Events
  • Galicia

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