A senior citizen, 75, was pronounced dead in Caye Caulker this weekend after falling into the sea and drowning. An anonymous tourist, who witnessed the drowning, said that the man’s death could have been prevented if a police officer present had allowed the man’s relatives to help him.
The purported tourist, who did not give his name, wrote our newspaper today by email, explaining: “On Saturday, a man by the name of Ismael Magaña of Caye Caulker was found in the water. His son, Saul Magaña and his grandson, Jamil Canto, both of Caye Caulker, came to rescue Mr. Magaña while a crowd of villagers watched.”
According to reports made by the tourist, the incident occurred at around 2:30 p.m., on Saturday, August 6. In the report, the tourist later suggests that the fatal incident could have been prevented, and that the man could have been rescued:
“At my amazement, as well as that of the villagers, the officer did not jump in the water or allow any of his officers or the man’s relatives to try to save the man’s life.
“The officer got into an argument with the son and anyone who tried to jump into the water, and finally, the grandson and son jumped in the water, anyway, to get the father out,” he wrote.
When Magaña was finally taken out of the water, according to the tourist, he was still breathing, and some people wanted to perform CPR on him, but again, the police officer prevented them from doing so.
“But again, he screamed at us and told us not to touch the man,” the tourist explained.
Reportedly, Magaña was then transported to the health center in a golf cart, but still, the tourist said, no CPR was administered.
“At no time did this officer or his assistants try to give this poor man any CPR, and they also had him turned face up instead of putting him on his stomach to try to get some of the water out,” the tourist claimed.
The tourist alleged that when Magaña had reached the health center, the nurse on duty was not there, since she was attending a wedding at the time, and that by the time she returned, Magaña had been pronounced dead.
We were able to reach the officer mentioned in the letter, a constable, and we told him what the tourist had said – that he had refused to allow others who witnessed the incident, including the drowning man’s son and grandson, from rescuing him. The officer told us he did not know anything about the incident, and referred us to the sergeant on duty on the island.
When we contacted the sergeant, he told us that he was also present at the scene, and that at no time did the officer prevent anyone from retrieving Magaña from the water.
According to the sergeant, they received a call that a man was floating in the water near to the back pier next to the Northern Fisheries Cooperation. They then went to the area, but there was no one there and shortly afterward Magana’s family arrived, he said.
The sergeant said that the officer also assisted the son and grandson, who took Magaña out of the water.
He said that they had taken Magaña to the health center, but that no doctor or nurse was there. Medical personnel arrived shortly after, he went on to add. He also confirmed that the man had died.
The sergeant said, “How will we see someone drowning in the water and not take him out or help him?”
Still, this is the claim of the purported tourist who wrote Amandala, who went on to say, on behalf of residents of the village of Caye Caulker, “We are all outraged.”