On the weekend of February 4, a group of tourists was run over while sunbathing and enjoying the sea in Cartagena. According to preliminary information, the accident occurred after a jet sky hit three people while they were enjoying themselves on the beaches of Bocagrande; The accident left one of the victims seriously injured, even on February 5 he had to undergo an emergency operation.
The event was reported by the local authorities headed by Lieutenant Colonel William Zubieta, deputy commander of the Cartagena Metropolitan Police, who commented that apparently the person who was driving the water transport was under the influence of alcohol and like the injured It is presumed that he is a tourist from Bogota.
“We are presented with an unfortunate fact that a person under a state of alcoholism was driving a jet ski and accidented three people who were taken to medical centers, one of the injured is under intermediate care. The person involved is a tourist from Bogotá who was presented to the corresponding authorities, the injured are three tourists from the Antioquia region,” the uniformed officer noted to local media.
Likewise, the authorities announced that at the time of the accident the driver tried to flee, but was arrested minutes later:
“The cause of the events was captured and made available to the Attorney General’s Office, the marine motorcycle was immobilized and transferred to the Coast Guard station in Cartagena. On behalf of the Captaincy of the Port of Cartagena, we open the investigation for a jurisdictional accident for a maritime accident and the alleged violation of merchant marine where the shipowner and owner of the mentioned ship is also involved, sanctions are applied within the framework of the powers of the Colombian maritime authority,” said ship captain Javier Gómez Torres, captain of the Port of Cartagena.
On the other hand, one of the friends of the seriously injured young man spoke about what happened and commented to Noticias Caracol that the state of health is still serious, since not only did he have an impact on the head, but the accident compromised his eyes.
“He has a severe head injury, he ended up affected in the face and vision, today they are doing a very important surgery to save his vision,” Julio Ariza told the Colombian media.
And he added the description of how the event occurred: “It was an incident that was never expected. A person was driving a jet ski at high speed and passed very close to the beach, where our companions were bathing, and ran over three of them, two with minor injuries who have already been discharged.
According to what was mentioned by El Tiempo, those affected by the accident were enjoying the prize that the company Lubricantes Yarumal gave to 17 of its workers for their good performance during 2022. The people from Antioquia arrived in Cartagena on February 2 and Apparently they would be until Sunday, February 5.
The last accident that occurred in the sea of La Heroica was recorded last January, when Coast Guard crew members received an alert call from the Cartagena Maritime Control, Traffic and Surveillance Station due to the fact that the vessel, of Ecohotel Las Palmeras overturned.
“Immediately, two Rapid Reaction Units (URR) were deployed to the place of the emergency, helping to assist and verify the passengers, who were previously helped by fishermen and the maritime union of the area (…) The Institution The Navy verified the health status of these people by transferring two adults and two minors of Mexican nationality in a Rapid Reaction Unit to the Castillogrande dock (Cartagena). Likewise, with the support of the community, the damaged vessel was towed to the shores of Caño de Oro Island,” said the captain of the ship, Carlos Urbano Montes, commander of the Caribbean Coast Guard Group. with Infobae