On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 24, five people died after a bus overturned on the so-called Las Campanas curve in Caripe, Monagas state.
The bus was transporting players, technical staff and parents of some players from the Real Barcelona Academy, a youth football club based in the Hugo Chávez Sports Complex in the Rómulo Gallegos sector of Barcelona, the capital of the state of Anzoátegui.
The event shocked the population of Monagas and Anzoátegui.
The team had just participated in the Jardín de Oriente 2024 minor league tournament held over the weekend. It is presumed that the driver lost control of the vehicle and fell into a ravine.
The fatal victims, all residents of Barcelona, were identified as Alfredo Medori, the 38-year-old bus driver; a 15-year-old teenager and a 5-year-old boy, who responded to the names of Alfredo Alejandro Merdodi and Luciano Alfredo Merdodi, sons of the aforementioned driver. Geidi Gil, 37, and his 5-year-old son Jhassikocv Gil also lost their lives.
Likewise, 8 injured people were reported admitted to the San Antonio de Capayacuar hospital in the Acosta municipality and to the Manuel Núñez Tovar hospital in Maturín.
The only cases identified were María Leonett (36), with generalized polytrauma, René Cabrera, soccer coach (34), with minor trauma, and a minor of 12 years of age also with generalized polytrauma.
Expressions of grief
Following the incident, authorities and sports associations expressed their regret at the death of the five people.
The Anzoátegui State Football Association issued a statement offering its condolences to the delegation and decided to suspend all football activities for the next 5 days.
Likewise, the governors of the states of Anzoátegui and Monagas, Luis José Marcano and Ernesto Luna, expressed their regret for the tragic accident.
The Mayor of Barcelona, Sugey Herrera, ordered in a decree the mourning agreement to support family and friends, “necessary in these moments of great sorrow for the municipality.”
The governor of Anzoátegui, together with Mayor Herrera, travelled to the Maturín hospital on the morning of Thursday 25 to check on the situation of the injured and begin the transfer of the deceased to Barcelona.
Both leaders were accompanied by the director of the Office of the Governor of Monagas, María Gabriela Villarroel.
