The search for the two missing people who were on the fishing vessel that collided this Monday with a passenger catamaran on the Tagus River was interrupted this evening and will resume on Tuesday morning, said the National Maritime Authority (AMN).
“The searches were interrupted tonight and will resume tomorrow morning (Tuesday)”, it can be read in a statement which states that the victims have not been found.
Search operations will resume with the use of vessels from the Lifeguard Station of the Port Authority of Lisbon, the Lifeguard Station of Cascais, the Firefighters Sapadores of Lisbon and the Volunteer Firefighters of Cacilhas, it can be read.
On land, resources from the local command of the Lisbon Maritime Police will be committed to carrying out patrols on both banks of the river, added the AMN.
In addition to sea and land resources, an EH-101 Merlin helicopter from the Air Force was also involved in the search since late Monday afternoon, this branch of the Armed Forces announced.
The captain of the port of Lisbon, Paulo Rodrigues Vicente, had previously explained that it was the master of the passenger vessel that made the connection between Barreiro and Lisbon who gave the alert, at 5:05 pm, that it had collided with a “smaller vessel”, with four occupants, two of which were rescued next to the Margueira pier and treated by Cacilhas firefighters.
The two injured, one seriously and the other slightly, were transported to Garcia de Orta Hospital, in Almada.
Transtejo/Soflusa announced, in a response sent to the Lusa agency, the “immediate establishment of an internal investigation” to determine the circumstances and responsibilities of the accident.
The company explained that at 4:55 pm the catamaran ship “Antero Quental”, which made the connection between Barreiro and Lisbon, was rammed by a fishing vessel, adding that the ship’s master tried to avoid the collision, specifically with several sound alerts , and that these were ignored by the fishing vessel.
Transtejo Soflusa, the company responsible for the river connection between Seixal, Montijo, Cacilhas, Barreiro and Trafaria/Porto Brandão, in the Setúbal district, and Lisbon, also said that passenger transport on the Barreiro – Terreiro do Paço river connection remains active and regular .
Source: www.cmjornal.pt
