ARCHIVED - Tragedy in Galicia as 11-year-old on school trip drowns in reservoir
Local authorities in the village of Carballo (A Coruña) have expressed their condolences to the family on social media.
An 11-year-old schoolboy has died during a school trip to the A Fervenza reservoir in Mazaricos, A Coruña (Galicia), Emergency Services have reported.
The alarm went up at 12.30 on Tuesday afternoon when emergency services received a call asking for help as a child had disappeared.
A medical helicopter based in Santiago was sent to the scene, along with Maritime Rescue and coastguard teams, Guardia Civil officers, firefighters and Civil Protection members and the boy’s body was found shortly after they arrived.
The schoolboy was visiting the reservoir along with a group of 40 pupils from the CEIP Fogar de Carballo, participating in educational and instructional activities being run by the adventure park Naturmaz.
Although very little information has been released, local media have reported that the deceased was part of a small group of friends who had been kayaking in the shallows of the embalse. The child concerned was reportedly an experienced kayaker, and the group had paddled to a shallow area where they decided to pull their kayaks up onto land and bathe.
They are reported by La Voz de Galicia to have removed their lifejackets in order to swim, which is why the deceased was not wearing a lifejacket.
It is believed that he found himself trapped in a natural deep pit of soft silt below the water and drowned, but the Guardia Civil’s Judicial Police will undertake a full investigation to determine exactly what happened as at the moment the circumstances surrounding the death have yet to be clarified.
Rescue services mounted a human chain out into the water attempting to locate him in the shallows and even used thermal imaging cameras in the search. His body was finally found by a fireman from the parque de Santa Comba who dived into the deeper waters and emerged on his third dive with the body of the child.
All attempts to resuscitate him were futile and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
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