Barge sunk in Lake Maracaibo: details of the accident that left five dead revealed

One of the survivors of Sinking of the oil barge Chantise G recorded last week in Lake Maracaibo, Zulia state, said details about the accident that left a total of five people dead.

The man, identified as Henry Martínez, who was taken to a private clinic to be treated along with several of his surviving companions, said that The ship set sail on the night of September 25 heading to Block 1 of Station 10-1 to repair gas and oil pipelines..

When the barge, which had a total of 25 people on board, arrived at the location on Lake Maracaibo, the weather conditions began to worsen, according to Martínez’s testimony.

Because the strong winds in the area were carrying the oil barge into the wells, the captain gave the order to raise the anchor to try to go to a safer place.

Climatic conditions caused a barge to sink in Lake Maracaibo

The crew members, who already had their life jackets on, began to notice that water was entering the barge from the stern and starboard. He stressed that he himself called people to get out of the cabins because they were already heading to the dock and the boat was sinking.

“We asked them to stop the lake boat because we all agreed to jump into the water, but the unit never stopped until it sank,” he stressed in statements quoted by local media.

Martínez remained under the barge while several jumped into the water. “Some were hit and others died,” he commented.

He said that he got out of where he was as best he could and that while the barge was sinking in Lake Maracaibo, he got an air compressor. He and seven others managed to refloat until rescuers arrived to save them.

The bodies of the victims identified as Wilfredo Camacaro, Edgar Urrieta, Paulino Pedroza Parra, Juan Noroño and an official from the Bolivarian National Guard were rescued from the water. To date, the authorities are still searching for Isneida Cárdenas, known as “la Gringa,” who was the cook on the boat.