Rescue crews recovered the lifeless bodies of the three missing men from the El Bronx (Marapica) beach in Puerto Plata. The beach is known to be dangerous for swimming and is generally avoided and thus was not even included in the off-limit beach area for Easter Week.
Civil Defense divers recovered on Tuesday, 2 April 2024 the bodies of the three people who were missing since Sunday, 28 March in the waters of the Playa Marapicá or Playa El Bronx, a short drive from Puerto Plata city.
According to Juan Salas, executive director of the Civil Defense, the first body was recovered around 7:05am on Tuesday, the second two hours later and the third in the afternoon on the high seas. Rescue crews had not dared to enter earlier given the weather conditions that resulted in strong waves.
Over the Easter holidays, the Weather Office (Onamet) had banned swimming in Puerto Plata beaches due to the strong currents and waves.
The reports issued by the provincial director of the Civil Defense in Puerto Plata, detail that the team of rescuers searched for hours for 29-year old Brianny Díaz, a volunteer of the institution who sought to rescue 17-year old Anderson González Tejada, from the La Otra Banda sector in Santiago and 29-year old José Alberto Chevalier.
García said one of the two men had entered the unauthorized bathing area shortly before noon on Holy Sunday, and immediately began to have problems with the high surf. Another tried to help him but was also overtaken by the waves. When the Civil Defense volunteer Diaz tried to rescue the two, he too was engulfed by the strong waves.
Units from the Dominican Navy, local firefighters, the Air Force SAR team and the Puerto Plata Red Cross and divers from Puerto Plata also participated in the search efforts.
The bodies were delivered to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) for the corresponding autopsies.
The finding of the bodies brings the dead during the Easter Week holiday operation to 27.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
Diario Libre
3 April 2024