The Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration (NMEAD) recovered this morning the bodies of the two brothers, a man and a woman, who died yesterday in the puddle the hippie in Naguabo.
The press spokeswoman for the Department of Public Security, Mariana Cobianconfirmed to The new day that the authorities found the two bodies, although at the moment they only removed the body of the young man from the area, via helicopter.
The NMEAD commissioner, Nino Correa Filomenoexplained this morning that the young man died while trying to rescue his sister who slipped from one of the stones and hit her head.
“One of them (of the brothers) slips and another goes after her to rescue her. They slipped and when they slipped they hit their heads. We are talking that they were between 24 and 26 years old “the official detailed in a radio interview (WKAQ 580 AM).
Correa Filomeno indicated that the young man’s body was recovered in the early hours of this morning, but it needed to be removed from the area with the use of a helicopter, given the complexity of the mission by land.
Neither of them was identified at the time. However, Correa Filomeno indicated that he knew that the two brothers were fraternizing after arriving on the island in recent days.
Precisely, he stressed that it was a third brother who recovered the two bodies. According to his testimony, Correa Filomeno recounted, he left both bodies on the shore and then set out on a path to seek help. However, when the rescuers arrived, they only found the young man’s body.
“We presume that the other body (of the young woman) may have run further down the river. The water could have dragged it according to the amount of water that goes down”said the official in a radio interview (Radio Isla 1320), about the reason why the female’s body was not found where her brother reported.
“A few years ago we had a situation with a Brazilian tourist who died here and it took us four days to recover her body. […] The only way this body can be removed is by air, due to how difficult it is to access by land.”, pointed out the commissioner, who described the place as an extension of mountainous terrain with multiple waterfalls and caves.
The helicopter used to extract the bodies belongs to the United Forces for Rapid Action (FURA).
“It is very difficult and dangerous to get here in normal conditions, I don’t want to imagine at times when people share alcohol and stuff. It is two hours walking from where the car is left to the puddle”he pointed.
NMEAD units from Arecibo, Ponce, Naguabo and other towns remain in place assisting in the recovery mission.