Citizens of the Aymara community were the ones who rescued the soldiers who were drowning for trying to cross the Ilave River in compliance with orders from their superiors, said, on La Mula TV, the journalist and correspondent for La República in Puno, Liubomir Fernández.
In the program ‘Al Filo’, Fernández, who was at the scene of the events, recounted that the military entered the Ilave river negligently, since they carried double clothing, their weapons and ammunition.
“In metaphor, it was like getting into the pool and putting a sack of potatoes on top. And the soldiers didn’t know how to swim. At that moment, they cross and the officer in charge manages to get to the other side and the other soldiers who were there “They have left it in the middle of the river, thrown away. And the community members of the upper area, who were watching, say that they were already dying, that there was a body floating. The community members of Ilave went down to rescue those who were drowning”, highlighted the journalist of the Republic.
Fernández added that when they arrived in the area, the officer in charge did not rescue them.
“The community members managed to get them out, they managed to help them, they gave them shelter and they thought they were officers. What happened is that the soldiers told them that they were also Aymara, that they were from communities, but that they were following orders from their superiors. So, the community members said they are our countrymen, our people, they revived them and gave them water,” he said in an interview with Javier Torres.
Until the closing of this note, unfortunately, there are 6 soldiers who have died after trying to cross the Ilave river in the zone of social conflict in Puno. As reported by La República, with the location of the remains of soldier Carlos Quispe Montalico, the search and rescue work in the province of El Collao concluded, according to the Ministry of Defense.
Watch the full interview with Liubomir Fernández, journalist and correspondent for La República in Puno, on La Mula TV:
[Foto de portada: La República]
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