While authorities seek to establish the causes that unleashed the brawl during the party on a flatboat in the El Peñol-Guatapé reservoir (Antioquia), which ended with a young man drowned, the documentation of the vessel that the group of young people rented for the celebration is being reviewed.
Although an employee of Inversiones Los Lagos Guatapé SAS, the firm that owns the flatboat, assured EL TIEMPO that partygoers had life jackets before the flatboat departed from the dock, the company’s defense now reveals new details about the altercation that ended with the young man Alexánder Avendaño off the vessel’s deck.
The interrogation
Indeed, videos circulated on social media show several young people assaulting Alexánder Avendaño Varela, 22, who ended up jumping off the deck on May 24 and was found 5 days later by a rescue team.
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that behind the ‘Supreme’ flatboat, where the party was held, is Inversiones Los Lagos de Guatapé S.A.S., which operates under the name Magnus Xperience.
The firm, incorporated with a capital of 6 million pesos, is dedicated to river passenger transport, the construction of boats and floating structures, and the sale of food and alcoholic beverages.
The firm also owns the Muelle Bar Flotante Magnus establishment, and Ana De Dios Ríos Buriticá, with 33 percent of the shares, appears as legal representative and shareholder; and Sara Liceth Arismendy Ríos, with 66 percent participation.
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that on June 1, Arismendy Ríos attended a summons at the Guatapé Sectional Prosecutor’s Office 48 and was interrogated.
The brawl on the flatboat
EL TIEMPO contacted Carlos Robledo, lawyer for Inversiones Los Lagos de Guatapé S.A.S., who began by assuring that all the documentation for the flatboat where the party was held had already been handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office.
“The company has always complied with the legal requirements for this type of activity. We have up-to-date registration, navigation patent, and insurance policy, a valid boat operator’s license, departure permit, and life rings,” explained the lawyer.
And regarding the brawl inside the flatboat, he stated: “What I can say personally is that, apparently, there was initially a fight, there is a very delicate situation on the boat and the young man is seen jumping. What has been learned is that the young man was a bit aggressive and apparently also threatened the captain of the vessel, which is when the captain goes up to steer the boat to head back to the dock.”
And he added: “The captain is not seen in the videos because after being threatened by the young man, apparently with a bottle, that’s when the captain goes up.”
The statements
Furthermore, the lawyer assured that there are photographs corroborating that before departure, life jackets were given to all occupants of the vessel and a police search was conducted in which no alcoholic substances or narcotics were found.
And when asked why the videos show that the young people at the party were not wearing life jackets, he explained that all attendees to the celebration were adults and the use of protection is a personal decision.
“However, the crew, which is the captain, is in charge of control and surveillance. And regarding the non-use of the life jacket, as in this case, the measure dictated by law is to return to the dock, as was apparently being done at that moment,” assured criminal lawyer Robledo.
(Consult all articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)
While the lawyer said he could not answer at that moment if the captain was still linked to Inversiones Los Lagos Guatapé, he explained that there was an internal investigation within the company.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
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