Nine dead and four missing after the sinking of the fishing boat Argos Georgia in the Falklands

The newspaper

Buenos Aires.-The Galician fishing boat Argos Georgia, with 27 people on board, sank this Monday near the Falkland Islands. A tragedy that has so far resulted in nine deaths whose bodies have already been recovered and four missing.

Among the fatalities are two Galicians, while two other Spaniards are missing. The deceased are the fishing skipper César Acevedo, from Vigo, who was about to retire, and the cook Santiago Leyenda, from Baiona, who had only been working on the boat for a few months. The two missing are Juan Antonio García Rey, 42 years old and from Ribeira, and Antonio Barreiro, the second engineer on board and from Noia.

Six other Spaniards from the crew have been rescued alive, according to the information that Salvamento de Malvinas has provided to the Spanish authorities. The survivors are Captain José Saborizo; the first officer, José Ramón Hombre, and the chief engineer, Ramón García Reiriz, all of them from Ribeira, as well as Francisco Gondar, from Pontevedra, and the biologist from Albacete, Amparo Burguillos. At this time, the identity of the sixth rescued person, from Barcelona, ​​has not been revealed.

There are 14 survivors in total. The patrol boat Lilibet is on its way to Stanley Harbour with 13 of them, while the fishing vessel Robin M. Lee has one on board. All survivors are believed to be in good condition and have only minor injuries and ailments. The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in the Falklands is now ready to receive them and carry out a medical assessment.

According to information provided by the Malvinas maritime authorities to the Spanish authorities, the fishing vessel ‘Puerto Toro’ has recovered two bodies and the ‘Robin M. Lee’, based in Cangas (Pontevedra) has rescued one survivor and one body.

The Falkland Islands Maritime Authority received the distress alert on Monday afternoon when the Argos Georgia requested assistance about 200 miles east of Stanley. Rapid communication was established between a number of entities, including the Falklands Government, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Forces South Atlantic Islands, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and the company that owns the vessel.

Despite the deployment of air and surface resources, including the BFSAI A-400 aircraft, search and rescue helicopters, the FPV Lilibet and two fishing boats, the situation of the Argos Georgia worsened, culminating in its sinking during the early hours of the morning. The Government of the Falkland Islands has explained that it will resume rescue work when the weather improves, after being halted on Tuesday due to “extreme” conditions, which mean that the area remains “off limits” to operations.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, is in “permanent contact” with his consulates in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and London (United Kingdom) to follow the rescue operation of the crew.LaSexta.