Thursday, February 2, 2023 | 5:00 a.m.
After the tragedy in Brazil in which four missionaries died after the overturning of a bus heading from Florianópolis to Foz de Iguazú, relatives of the victims awaited the arrival of the bodies last night for the corresponding wake and burial, as confirmed by El Territory.
As this outlet reported, the victims were identified as Carina Martínez (42), her son David (3), Giuliana Tessari (24) and Fernando Benítez. They were released in the town of Ponta Grossa around 7:00 p.m. and it was expected at the close of this edition that they would arrive this morning.
Carina was a native of Puerto Iguazú and had gone on vacation with her husband, David, and two other children ages 11 and 17. The sad particularity of the case is that despite having a car, the family decided to travel by bus due to the dangerousness of the Brazilian routes.
On the other hand, Tessari -belonging to a renowned family linked to the tourism sector in Wanda and mother of a 4-year-old girl who had not traveled with her- and Benítez had been a couple for a year. The young man was the last missionary to be recognized on land in the neighboring country.
The repatriation process the day before was as cumbersome as it was painful due to bureaucracy, according to details of the families consulted by this means throughout the day. The recognition of the bodies was completed only during siesta hours, after many procedures.
However, the Brazilian authorities later expressed that they had to do the fingerprint recognition, something that they understand could have been done before.
“We need to please share this post and help us make it viral because Giuliana Tessari and Fernando (Benítez, her boyfriend) are not released to be able to bring her to Misiones and give her eternal rest. Injustice, almost 48 hours of waiting and we continue for many more ”, claimed a relative of Tessari on social networks.
Giuliana’s father, businessman Luis “La Sombra” Tessari, a former runner from the 90s and owner of a cabin complex, was the one who carried out the negotiations on Brazilian lands and what was claimed is that he had no contention abroad. The man hired a Brazilian funeral company for the transfer.
What was known is that the possibility of bringing the bodies on a plane was considered after an offer from the province of Misiones, although this was ruled out because they understood that it could take the process even longer. Apparently with this option they had to enter the country through Buenos Aires.
“We are devastated, my nephews are really bad there far from us and my brother is devastated doing paperwork,” were the words of Carina Martínez’s sister-in-law around 6:00 p.m., when they still did not have details. Minutes later it was confirmed that the bodies of his family also began the trip to Puerto Iguazú.
Carina’s husband had to be treated in the municipality of Iratí and what was known was that at the scene of the events he tried to help his youngest son, but the creature was already without vital signs. In this context, with her other two children, he made the arrangements.
“We still couldn’t identify the bodies because there is too much paperwork and bureaucracy here, it’s a disaster. Now we are all here, the relatives and relatives of those who have the bodies to remove are very angry,” the man reported during the afternoon.
Parallel to this, the Misiones government expressed, meanwhile, that constant negotiations were being made with the Argentine ambassador Daniel Scioli and the consulate in Curitiba, capital of the State of Paraná.
In this regard, at 6:14 p.m. Governor Oscar Herrera Ahuad published on his Twitter account that “we are dealing with the repatriation of the bodies of the missionaries who died in the accident in Brazil. I personally spoke with the ambassador in Brazil (Daniel Scioli)”.
“We made all the necessary logistics available from the provincial government so that once the requirements required by the Brazilian government have been fulfilled, they arrive in Misiones in the shortest possible time. My respects and condolences to the family and friends, the pain is immense, ”he closed.
“I fell asleep”
As this media reported yesterday, the incident occurred around 02:50 on Tuesday in Fernandes Pinheiro on BR-227, in the southeast of Paraná and about 500 kilometers from Foz de Iguazú. The long-distance bus of the Viação Catarinense company misled the bus with 55 people, including the driver.
The rescue of the passengers ended at 11:20 a.m., ten hours after the event, since four of the bodies were under the overturned vehicle and it was necessary to pick up the bus in order to gain access.
The doctor who treated the tourists overnight said the reason the bus was double-decker made it difficult to remove the bodies.
On the other hand, the Civil Police of the neighboring country investigates the case and took measures to clarify the dynamics of the accident. From the security force, they indicated hours later that they were waiting for the forensic reports to try to understand the situation and confirm the causes of the overturn.
The bus was seized after the bodies of the victims were removed and sent for autopsy.
Likewise, according to the preliminary analysis of the Federal Highway Police, based on the tracks and information collected, the bus left the road in a straight line and fell to the side of the road. No signs of collision with other vehicles were detected.
“There is no skid mark here on the road, which rules out the possibility of a potential collision. Until then, due to the time of the accident, which was 1.50 in the morning, we hypothesized a probable loss of control of the vehicle, which caused the accident. But we will still take steps to clarify the case,” said Wesley Vinicius, an investigation in the case.
On the other hand, the driver underwent a breathalyzer test, which yielded a negative result.
In this context, one of the survivors of the tragic accident said that the driver would have confessed that he fell asleep at the wheel before the bus overturned and fell into the ravine.
This is Alexandro de Oliveira Gamaro, who was able to save himself by grabbing onto a seat,
The passenger stated, “I was outraged and went up to the driver and asked ‘man, how did you throw me off a cliff on a straightaway?’ and the driver looked me in the face and said ‘man, I fell asleep.’ I had no reaction. I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but I didn’t react.”
On the other hand, the local media RIC Mais spoke with the company responsible for the vehicle, which in a statement regretted what happened and said that it will investigate the reason for the rollover together with the authorities. The vehicle, according to the company, left Florianópolis at 4:40 p.m. on Monday for Foz de Iguazú, in western Paraná.
In this framework, the responsible company announced that it had teams in place providing assistance to passengers and family members.
He also reinforced his “commitment to security” and announced that he will be available to the authorities for clarification.
The fifth victim, a teacher
Five of the seven deceased after the mistake of the group that was heading from Florianópolis to Foz de Iguazú are Argentines, according to the Argentine ambassador Daniel Scioli.
As confirmed yesterday, the fifth victim in this country is Franco Tomás Sánchez, a teacher from the Buenos Aires town of Magdalena.
Sánchez, who had been elected in the last inmates for president of the Radical Youth of Magdalena and was also a student at the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the UNLP.
Yesterday family friends and even the mayor of the Buenos Aires town fired him with great pain on social networks.
In figures
55
The bus left at 4:40 p.m. on Monday from Florianópolis bound for Foz de Iguazú with 55 occupants, including the driver. Seven people died.
