Brazilian Influencers Drown at ‘Devil’s Throat’ After Refusing to Wear Life Jackets to Take Selfies and Tan
Aline Tamara Moreira de Amorim and Beatriz Tavares da Silva Faria died when a wave crashed into the vessel carrying seven people
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Two Brazilian influencers drowned in a boating accident off the coast of São Paulo, per reports by local news outlets. After the vessel capsized on Sept. 29, G1 Globo reported that only five of the seven people on board were rescued.
The bodies of the two other victims were later discovered, and both Aline Tamara Moreira de Amorim, 37, and Beatriz Tavares da Silva Faria, 27, were confirmed dead. In an interview with G1 Globo’s TV Tribuna, the city’s chief police officer Marcos Alexandre Alfino cited a testimony by the boat’s caption and said that the two women declined to wear life jackets “because they were taking selfies.”
“They said that life jackets would get in the way of their tanning,” Alfino added of the women, who were attending a party held on the ill-fated boat.
According to information obtained by G1 Globo, Amorim — who reportedly has a 17-year-old son — shared photos of herself on social media while out at sea. The outlet added that her brother claimed she didn’t know how to swim.
The Brazilian news source says the two women who died did not know each other prior to the party.
Reports also detailed that the accident happened in the region known as Garganta do Diabo, which translates to Devil’s Throat. The partygoers were being transported back to land on a different vessel when that smaller boat was hit by a wave, knocking all seven people into the water.
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In his statement to the police, the boat’s pilot — who was not identified — also claimed he tried to help everyone who fell off the vessel, but he explained he could only retrieve some of the survivors from the sea.
The International Business Times shared quotes from one of the survivors, Vanessa Audrey da Silva. She recalls how she urgently put on her life vest and held onto a rock after the boat started sinking. She was able to hold on until help arrived to rescue her.
“There was a moment in the water when no one could see anyone,” da Silva said. “I was fighting for my life.”
Survivors say they clung onto life jackets in their hands
Aline Tamara Moreira de Amorim, 37, and Beatriz Tavares da Silva Faria, 27, were found dead after the overcrowded boat sank off a stretch of the Brazilian coast known as the ‘Devil’s Throat’.
The captain told police he had been ordered to take six influencers back to the shore on 29 September even though his boat only had a maximum capacity of five passengers.
His craft was then hit by a huge wave, according to local media, and it was too heavy to ride it out and began to sink. He told police he desperately tried to save everyone.
Aline. (Newsflash)
Police say the pair hadn’t been wearing life jackets at the time, despite one of them not being able to swim.
Local media added that Sao Vincente police commissioner Marcos Alexandre Alfino said of the influencers: “Some didn’t want to put them on because they were taking selfies. They said that they get in the way of their tanning.”
Beatriz’s body was found first and recovered by Brazil’s Maritime Firefighters while it was drifting out to sea. Aline wasn’t found until a week later, when her dead body washed up on the coast of Itaquitanduva Beach.
It is now being established if the pair’s deaths were just a tragic accident or if they could have been prevented.
Commissioner Alfino explained: “All this is being determined very calmly to conclude if the fatalities were based on recklessness or negligence.”
Mum-of-one Aline, who couldn’t swim, had posted her final snaps on social media as she posed on the boat in her bikini.
Survivors were named by local media as Vanessa Audrey da Silva, Camila Alves de Carvalho, Daniel Goncalves Ferreira, Gabriela Santos Lima, and Natan Cardoso Soares da Silva.
Beatriz. (Newsflash)
Vanessa later explained that a group of friends and influencers had met up for a luxury yacht party, spending their day cruising and drinking.
When they returned to shore, they split into two groups – with one being the victim of the swamped boat.
She said she had managed to get into a life jacket and then survived the ordeal by clinging onto rocks.
“There was a moment in the water when no one could see anyone. I was fighting for life,” Vanessa recalled.
Another survivor, Camila, explained she clutched a life jacket in her hands and held on for dear life.
She said: “There were very strong waves, we almost died. We didn’t know how to swim.
I knew that I couldn’t take it for long. I hurt my foot and swallowed a lot of water.
“We threw ourselves into the rocks.”
