Havana/This Wednesday, the body of Daniel Vargas Cedeño, 23, was found early in the morning, who was reported missing on Tuesday night, after being dragged by the sea in the town of Chivirico, Guamá municipality, in Santiago de Cuba. The information was disseminated by Aris Arias Batalla, provincial head of Operations and Relief of the Red Cross in the province. The official explained that five other people were rescued almost immediately, but that Vargas Cedeño “was taken away due to the strong current and deterioration of the sea.”
The group of young people, who were celebrating an activity in the Cupet area of Guamá, according to the same source, went into the sea in a place that was not permitted. “It is not a bathing area due to its risks, danger and vulnerabilities with rip currents and strong sea currents,” explained Arias Batalla. “The territory’s authorities have recalled that public bathing is prohibited in that area due to the risks, dangers and vulnerabilities of the coastal environment.”
When the sea began to push the group away from the shore, “ranch workers and bathers managed to rescue five injured people, but Vargas Cedeño was dragged out to sea.”
“Workers from the ranch and bathers managed to rescue five injured people, but Vargas Cedeño was dragged out to sea”
On social networks they highlighted the bravery of the people who improvised as rescuers when they saw the scene. “It is a very dangerous beach. My husband was one of those who did not think twice and jumped into the sea and was able to pull one out. Thanks to him and the other boys who helped,” said a user on social networks.
They also denounced the lack of signage in the area. “Those of us who know that beach do not swim there, it is very dangerous and if you swim against the current it is even worse. That beach should already be closed, with a fence and danger signs, because it has claimed many lives, said another user.
The injured people were taken to the Giraldo Aponte Fonseca polyclinic, where they were given first aid, while rescuers “launched the search for the missing person, which had to be suspended due to darkness.”
Rescue efforts resumed early this Wednesday, with the first light of day
Rescue efforts resumed early this Wednesday, with the first light of day. “The rescuers carried out the extraction of the lifeless body of young Daniel Varga Cedeño, a resident of the Santa Bárbara neighborhood,” Arias Batalla reported.
“I drowned there for nothing. I was playing jumping the waves and in one of those I didn’t step on the bottom and a sea current dragged me away. Thanks to a local resident, skilled in this issue of tides and undertows, who managed to rescue me, but I was already losing consciousness,” another netizen said about the place.
A similar event was reported in May 2024. two young people 20-year-old Yassel Alberto Bisset and Rachel Mora Torres drowned on Sardinero beach, also in a prohibited bathing area. Both were bathing on the coast with three minor brothers: Renato Cordero Torres, eight years old, Carlos David González Torres, 15, and María Carla González Torres, 17, who had to undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers.
The body of Mora Torres, who was a resident of the municipality of Mangos de Baraguá, was rescued the same day of the accident by the authorities, but that of Bisset remained missing until around 9:00 am the next day, as in the case of Vargas Cedeño.
