On the morning of July 30, 2022, Catedral Hill shook. Germán Cofián Matamala’s heartbreaking screams shocked his co-workers. In an instant, Germán’s life was extinguished, without anyone being able to prevent it.
The operator had appeared around 8:30 on the platform of the Cóndor II lift on Cerro Catedral and climbed the ladder. and sat between the pulley and the return cable, to do a maintenance task. Something I had done for years.
A colleague, who was at the base, activated that chairlift because some patrollers wanted to go up. Nobody told him that Germán was working. His left leg got stuck between the pulley and the return steel cable, which when it started moving, He amputated the lower part of his left leg. Minutes later, she died from bleeding.
The tragedy caused enormous pain among his co-workers and his family. Cofian Matamala was 46 years old and spent much of his life on Cerro Catedral.
Key audience
The prosecution investigated the tragedy and On April 22, the guarantee judge Juan Pablo Laurence accepted the agreement reached between the prosecution, the victim’s family, who acted as plaintiff, and the defenders of the two defendants. Horacio Álvarez and Pablo Martín González.
Therefore, andThe judge granted them the benefit of suspension of trial, because they met the legal requirements: They had no criminal record and the expectation of conviction is a suspended sentence because the deputy prosecutor Gerardo Miranda attributed manslaughter to them.
The consent of Cofián Matamala’s family was key for the two former co-workers to access probation. Miranda, the private defender Damián Torres, who assisted Álvarez, and the official defender Natalia Araya, who assisted González, valued the gesture of the victim’s relatives.
The prosecutor recalled that González was in charge of the platform of the Cóndor II section and allowed Cofián Matamala to take control and did nothing to ensure that the lifting device was blocked. He also did not warn by VHF radio of the tasks that his partner was doing. He did not inform Álvarez, his hierarchical superior.
Miranda maintained that González had the obligation to block and ensure the lifting means so that Cofián Matamala, who was head of the Cóndor III section, could work safely and not delegate that task to another colleague. He warned that from the base of the ski center it is impossible to observe what is happening at the Cóndor II.
Germán Cofian Matamala was 46 years old.
The responsibility of the boss
He indicated that Álvarez was the only one responsible for the start-up of the lifting device, according to the mountain operations manual, but he delegated in an illegal manner to his assistant Carlos Moya, who had less than ten days of experience. He said that Álvarez went to the bathroom and at that moment Moya started the Chairlift because some patrollers wanted to go up.
Therefore, MirandaHe charged you both with manslaughter because you violated the duty of care and acted negligently.
The evidence to support the charges
Miranda supported the charges with the police procedure report of July 30, 2022. The autopsy, documentation that the prosecution requested from the company. The minutes of the Criminalistics office. The report with the mechanical expertise made by engineer Marcelo Hoster, another technical report and interviews with several of Germán’s fellow employees.
He explained to the judge that in The prosecution held several meetings with the victim’s family to explain the scope of an agreement and what would happen if the two defendants were brought to a common trial. Due to the classification of the fact and the lack of criminal records of the accused, if they were convicted, a suspended sentence would be applied to them.
He highlighted everyone’s willingness to resolve the conflict. He appreciated Álvarez’s behavior with Germán’s relatives.
Judge He praised the effort made by the family, the prosecution and the defenders in seeking an alternative solution. Also, dialogue and respect during the hearing.
Laurence It was decided to grant the suspension of the trial trial for 2 years in favor of Álvarez and for 2 years and 6 months in favor of González. Both must comply with rules of conduct during that period and take a course in safety and hygiene. If they comply, the criminal action will be extinguished, but if one or both of them fail to comply with the guidelines, the criminal process will resume.
Álvarez promised to pay compensation of 1,000,000 pesos, in three installments. And González one of 500,000 pesos, in five installments, because the defense alleged that his economic situation is more precarious. And 150 hours of community work. The family will determine whether to reject these offers, because they have a civil lawsuit against the company Capsa, the institution to which the funds will be allocated.
The mother and brothers of Germán Cofián Matamala gave their consent for the defendants to agree to the suspension of trial. (archive photo Marcelo Martínez)
There is a civil lawsuit in progress
«The criterion of justice is broader, because when one analyzes this case, one realized that we were in a situation of a company that, of course, we could not bring to criminal trial, where everything was working poorly“said the lawyer for the complaint, Juan Pablo Álvarez Guerrero.
He indicated that “lThe facilities were bad, the security buttons did not work, the employees did not have security courses. “One of the employees had been working for ten days and no one had taught him anything,” he said. «Everything conspired for this tremendous outcome of a death that transcends Messrs. Álvarez and González,” he emphasized.
“Unfortunately we cannot bring the company to a criminal trial and we think that the civil court is where justice will truly be done with those most responsible, because I have no doubt that Álvarez and González have a great share of responsibility, they made a mistake and the outcome was fatal,” said Álvarez Guerrero. “But they are not the only ones responsible in a company where everything worked extraordinarily poorly,” he asserted.