SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, June 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The submarine Rov that descended this Saturday to check if the metallic structure located by the ship ‘Ártabro’, which is in charge of the mission to search, locate and inspect the wreck of the ‘Villa de Pitanxo’, has confirmed that it is the Galician fishing vessel which was wrecked in February 2022 in the waters of Newfoundland.
After this confirmation, the next task of the operation deployed by the ‘Ártabro’ will be the recording of the wreck to try to clarify what happened on February 15, 2022, when the shipwreck of the ‘Pitanxo’ killed 21 of the 24 sailors on board.
From there, the families of the deceased have tried to find out what happened, which is why they have always asked that the wreck be lowered to look for evidence. After this Friday the ‘Ártabro’ located a metal structure in the same area in which the ‘Pitanxo’ had sunk, the families were “expectant and hopeful” waiting to confirm that, indeed, it was the fishing boat Galician.
During the investigation, the judge took a statement from the skipper of the fishing boat, Juan Padín, as the defendant, his nephew Eduardo Rial and the sailor Samuel Kwesi, as witnesses, as they were the only survivors of the shipwreck.
The judicial investigation is due to the fact that Samuel Kwesi offered a version that contradicts the one exposed by Padín and Rial, and that would point to possible negligence on their part that would have triggered the tragedy.
After taking their statement, the magistrate prohibited the fishing boat skipper from leaving Spain, withdrew his passport and imposed the precautionary measure of appearing every fortnight in court and being located. Now, the inspection of the ship will serve as evidence for the case.
