Teenagers Elio Febrier Sain Felix, 15, and Elizabeth Cisneros Bou, 17, died this Monday at Playa Sardinero, in Santiago de Cuba, where they both lived. The official press reported the event last night, which occurred around 11 in the morning.
The minors, who are cousins as their acquaintances have commented on social networks, were swept away by a sea current that caused their death when they enjoyed a day at the beach with their family.
“This accident has caused a lot of sadness in the relatives, friends and neighbors of micro 1 B, of Abel Santa María. The two children are first cousins, children of two sisters. Tragedy and a lot of pain in a single family. Very good children, dear for all of us who knew them and their families,” said an acquaintance of the minors on social networks. The woman sent strength to her loved ones, especially to the father of the minor who, as she reveals, is on a mission in Africa.
According to a health worker from the province who knew the case first-hand, Aris Arias Batalla, with them were several adults, José Carlos Lasaga Bou, 29, and his wife, who were not harmed. Ángel Bou Tejeda, 38, who was placed under observation at his local doctor.
The other two minors involved were Yarelis Olivares de la Cruz, 17, and Yelsandri Caballero Acosta, 12, who suffered incomplete drowning and were hospitalized in two different institutions after being stabilized.
Ángel Bou Tejeda, cousin brother also of the deceased, the whole group was bathing and they were walking until they noticed a current that dragged them
Ángel Bou Tejeda, cousin brother also of the deceased, the whole group was bathing and they were walking until they noticed a current that dragged them. Authorities are investigating how the incident could have occurred.
In May of last year, three adolescents died in Holguín and another 14 young people were injured after being swept away by the current of a flood of the Guaro River, in the municipality of Mayarí. The group was leaving a birthday party and was crossing a bridge when an atypical flood of the riverbed, as described by the authorities, and in a curve “with low visibility”, they were overwhelmed by the water.
The latest official data on deaths by drowning in Cuba is from 2019, when the World Health Organization compiled figures from around the world for a report which he disseminated within the framework of an international congress aimed at addressing drowning as an important and preventable cause of mortality. That year 262 people died in Cuba, a death rate of 2.2 per 100,000.
The figure is low compared to some countries such as Russia or Thailand, which stand out for their high drowning mortality rate, but very high in the context of the West, including the Caribbean.
Between 1987 and 2014, 8,367 people died from drowning in Cuba, one person every 19 hours and 41 minutes, on an island where most have difficulty learning to swim due to the lack of availability of swimming pools and instructors in safe conditions.
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