A 24-year-old college student tragically died after her limps were ripped off by a boat propeller in Haynes Key in San Andres.
Yurany Vanegas was swimming with her family when she was suddenly hit by the single-engine boat but the Colombian Navy said that the captain of the vessel did not see the woman when he moved forward.
The captain reportedly rushed Vanegas to Clarence Lynd Newball Memorial Hospital where she arrived without vital signs due to blood loss.
San Andres Governor Everth Hawkins said that the incident is being investigated. The captain of the boat also voluntarily turned himself in to the police to cooperate with the investigation.
The horrifying incident is the second since November last year when a 26-year-old woman was killed by a boat while she was swimming.
Natalia Larranaga was swimming in San Andres when both of her legs were cut off by a boat. She tragically passed away in a hospital the next day.
In Costa Rica, a similar incident happened when 21-year-old Joan Lopez was hit by a propeller. Fortunately, he survived the accident.
Lopez was reportedly trying to get back into the vessel when the boat captain turned the engine on. He suffered cuts to his genital and abdominal area and was rushed to a hospital.
Governor Hawkins is now seeking to limit certain areas of beaches to swimming only and banning boats in those areas.
“This is a situation that concerns us and draws our attention to the fact that anarchy must cease and order must prevail to provide a good tourism service,” Hawkins said.
“It has been of no use to us to seek to be a tourist showcase, the (Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism) has been of no use to us to be a desired destination, to seek a reduction in the price of fuel, to seek air connectivity, so that we do not understand that what we need as service providers.”
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