Judge María Paz González-Tascón, president of the 3rd Criminal Court of Oviedo, Ten years in prison for businessman and three observers – recruited in this way despite his lack of qualifications – organized the canoe raft descent into the Cares River that resulted in the death of 14-year-old Ana Reyzábal from Madrid, On July 3, 2020 after becoming trapped in a river siphon near the town of Mildón in Peñamellera Alta.
In particular, the judge sentenced Jesús Madrazo, owner of the Canoe Aventura Trophy company, to four years in prison. crime of manslaughterand two-year prison sentences for three employees of the previous employee who, on the day of the event, took responsibility for the group of boys who went down the river without having the necessary qualifications or experience to carry out the event: Borja Berdial, Gustavo Saiz and Alfredo Gutierrez.
The judge acquitted the fifth defendant, Pelayo de Gregorio. He is in charge of the Layos Camp de Comillas surf camp in Cantabria, where the girl from Madrid is based. The only charge against the latter was the special charge of the dead child’s family, which called for a three-year prison sentence. As it became clear at the trial, those in charge of the camp were unaware of the danger of the descent they had subcontracted.
The defendant must also pay compensation of 204,000 euros to the dead teenager’s parents and siblings.In line with the request of the Public Ministry.
The trial proved the lack of training on the part of both the company president and the three instructors to conduct a whitewater activity with a responsible group of schoolchildren. Many young children who participated in the descent described the fear and difficulties they experienced during the descent, especially at the height of “El Monolito”, the large stone that divided the river bed and which the canoe hit. The one that capsized with Ana Reyzábal and her companion. Young woman next to Ana He was able to swim by holding on to the boat. Ana, whose only leg is stuck in the crack, is not like that. By the time observers realized what had happened, ten to twenty minutes had passed since the boy had been underwater. They could not remove the body and it had to be GEAS who recovered the body through a difficult operation.
They shouldn’t have fallen
Responding agents stated that the three guides “should not go down the river with unaccompanied inexperienced children.” The channel in that section is “very dangerous”, it changes every minute, and other companies that make the same landing do not accept people under the age of 16 unless they are accompanied by a companion. According to agents, minors “They should have used a different type of life jacket.”. And they confirmed that “the landing was not done safely,” a point the minors had previously emphasized: “Nobody checked anything.” Knowing how dangerous the river was, the residents of Mildon were afraid of the misfortune that eventually occurred.
The sentences are the same as those requested by the Prosecutor’s Office, which initially requested four-year prison sentences for the four defendants of the adventure company, but later changed its request regarding the monitors and reduced it to two years. And he understood that the businessman decided not to participate in the activity and transferred the business to the other three defendants, knowing that they did not have the necessary qualifications, without providing the necessary facilities and giving written instructions.