Injured Marbella fisherman claims a 15-metre boat hit his kayak and then fled the scene
Despite wearing a fluorescent life jacket, José Carlos doesn’t know whether the skipper saw him or not: “I was shouting and waving my arms for him to turn and not run me down, but he never looked up”
Emergency services were dispatched to help a man on Saturday who was fishing in his kayak in the Cabopino area of Marbella, as he usually does, after he was involved in a collision with a yacht. Unexpectedly, the yacht began to approach with its bow raised and at high speed. Despite the man’s gestures and shouting - he was wearing a fluorescent life jacket - to get it to stop, the vessel, according to his account, kept going until it rammed into him and then fled the scene.
José Carlos still finds it hard to talk about the incident that could have cost him his life. By the time he realised what had happened, the 15-metre-long boat had already "run over him": he had fallen into the water along with his belongings, and he was in pain, he explained to SUR.
It happened on 4 October, at around half past three in the afternoon, and the services of the 061 emergency centre attended the scene, as well as a patrol of the Guardia Civil, who interviewed the victim and the witnesses. Juan Carlos was also treated in hospital for bruising caused by the collision. "My back and hip hurt most of all. It has also created a lot of anxiety, nightmares... it's been a very hard pill to swallow," the fisherman said.
In the report, lodged at the Guardia Civil headquarters in Torremolinos and to which SUR has had access, the affected party explained that he was behind the red buoy, next to a jet ski circuit, talking to the owner of the company when the incident occurred.
Although at first the yacht seemed to be heading towards a motorboat, it ended up passing it by and steering straight for the kayak, running it over. José Carlos doesn’t know whether the skipper saw him or not: “I was shouting and waving my arms for him to turn and not run me down, but he never looked up.” The motorboat’s owner and his companion reproached him for his actions, but in vain: they chased after him to stop him from getting away, but were unsuccessful.
Juan Carlos claims that the suspect fled while he, entangled in the fishing rods, called for help. It was the owner of the jet ski shop who finally rescued him and alerted the emergency services. In the end, the incident turned out to be just a scare, but the fisherman confesses that he can't get rid of "the bad feeling" and asks that the alleged perpetrator "does not go unpunished".
The case has now been sent to the duty court, according to sources from the Guardia Civil.
