At least nine people, including seven young people aged 17 to 21, died in a serious accident on a section of the BR-376 highway, in Guaratuba, on the coast of Paraná.
According to the Federal Highway Police (PRF), a container trailer heading towards Santa Catarina lost its brakes and hit a van, which collided with a car before being dragged by the truck off the road. After crossing the protective wall, the trailer fell onto the van, which was crushed.
According to the PRF, only one of the ten occupants of the van – a 17-year-old teenager – was rescued alive. He suffered minor injuries and was taken, along with the driver of the truck, a 30-year-old man, to Hospital São José, in Joinville. The driver of the truck was slightly injured, while the driver of the car hit by the van was not injured. One of the dead is Oguener Tissot, technical coordinator of the Remar Para o Futuro Project.
Medals
The passengers in the van were part of a rowing team from a project linked to the city of Pelotas (RS). The group was returning from a national competition in São Paulo, where the eight teenagers won seven medals, including one gold.
The accident occurred around 9:40 pm on Sunday (21). As the van was trapped under the container, rescue teams had to wait for a crane to arrive.
Traffic on BR-376 remained interrupted until Monday morning (21), causing congestion that stretched for kilometers in both directions.
The other two victims are the driver of a van and the technical coordinator of the rowing team.
Messages
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used his social networks to lament what happened. “With sadness and regret, I learned of the death of nine people, seven of whom were teenagers, from a rowing team from Pelotas, in a tragic accident on BR-376, in Guaratuba, Paraná. There are no words that can describe the pain of losing a child or grandchild. The pain is irreparable. My condolences and solidarity with the families and friends of the victims,” he stated.
The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, also spoke. “I receive with immense sadness the news of the tragic accident in Paraná, which took the lives of nine people, including seven young people from Pelotas, athletes from the Remar para o Futuro project”, wrote the governor on social media, adding that the team was “representing our State with great honor”.
Pelotas city hall declared a seven-day municipal mourning period and announced that it will provide assistance to the families of the victims.
According to city hall, in addition to Tissot, aged 43, Samuel Benites Lopes (15) died in the van; Henri Fontoura Guimarães (15); João Pedro Kerchiner (17); Helen Belony (20); Nicole da Cruz (15); Angel Souto Vidal (16); Vitor Fernandes Camargo (17) and driver Ricardo Leal da Cunha (52). The teenager who survived is called João Milgarejo (17).
With the exception of the driver, the nine passengers in the van hit by the trailer were part of the so-called Rowing for the Future Project, developed by the Tissot Rowing Academy, in Pelotas, in partnership with the city hall and the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel).
According to the Brazilian Rowing Confederation, the socio-sporting initiative was created by Oguener Tissot, one of those killed in the accident, with the aim of expanding the base of young talents in Brazilian rowing, having achieved “important results within the national rowing scenario” by forming three generations of athletes.
Tragedy
In a statement, UFPel lamented the “tragic accident”, highlighting that the group was returning from São Paulo, where they participated in the Brazilian Unified Rowing Championship, with an excellent performance that resulted in the winning of seven medals.
“In this moment of pain, UFPel sympathizes with the families and friends of the victims, providing all necessary assistance. The university is closely monitoring the case and, together with project partners, seeks to provide support to those involved and clarify the circumstances of the accident,” the institution said in a statement, which declared an official mourning period of three days.
In a post published hours before the accidentthe Tissot Rowing Academy celebrated the team’s achievements, describing the difficulties for young athletes to participate in the Brazilian championship.
“A week of competitions in São Paulo; two days of traveling by van, uncertainty about traveling or not until the day before the trip due to budgetary reasons – we gave up taking our boats for safety reasons, also the day before the trip… In short, a scenario of uncertainty with a only conviction, our young people were ready for this great challenge, even after almost a year and a half without competing”, details the author of the post, highlighting that the confirmation of the trip came at the last minute.
“Anyway, challenges that institutions and “small” projects face in their daily routine and which unfortunately represent the vast majority who participate in sport in our Brazil. In any case, more than 30 clubs from all over Brazil participated in the most important competition of the season, and, even with one of the smallest teams, eight athletes, we achieved sixth place overall”, he concluded.
*Article changed at 12:18 pm to add information.
