Moment when the microlight is promoted from the Duero river on its way through Villamarciel (Valladolid) on December 21st. CLAUDIA ALBA EUROPE PRESS. (CLAUDIA ALBA EUROPE PRESS.)
The body of the second missing person after the ultralight accident two weeks ago in Valladolid was found in the Duero river this Monday morning. The emergency services, which have been following the area by land, sea and air since the December 17 accident, located the body near the town of San Miguel del Pino in Valladolid. The body was found on a bank caught on some branches.
The crashed microlight took off from Matilla de los Caños airfield, near the municipality of Tordesillas, on the afternoon of December 17. The two occupants of the device were Guillermo Álvarez, PSOE deputy mayor of the city of Geria in Valladolid, and Beatriz Cantos, daughter of the managers of the restaurant at Matilla Air Force Base. The woman’s body was found inside the device two days after the accident, which the investigation attributed to the microlight becoming entangled in some power cables and eventually crashing into the Duero River, which flows just below. This point is near Villamarciel, four kilometers above where the body was sighted.
The difficult conditions have hampered the operations led by the Civil Guard, since nowadays the Duero falls with an intense current and very low temperatures. The divers who rescued this corpse and later retrieved the device from the channel had to work in murky water with strong currents and cold at a temperature of six degrees. During these two weeks of deployment, the unit was assisted by thermal imaging cameras, high-altitude inspection drones, and water-tracking dogs.
The body was sighted by members of the Castilla y León Rescue and Rescue Association, a group of volunteer diving, rescue and water rescue specialists who have been working with the Guardia Civil in the search. The body was found floating on the right bank of the Duero River, hanging from some branches. The 53-year-old pilot’s ID was found under his clothing. The family has moved to this part of the river and law enforcement has removed the body while they wait for the autopsy to confirm if it is indeed him.
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