An athlete disappears in Galicia during a triathlon test

According to the website La Nueva España, yesterday a 23-year-old Portuguese triathlete disappeared in the Miño river while he was contesting the swimming segment of the Amizade Cerveira-Tomiño Triathlon

This test, organized within the framework of the Eurocidade, was attended by more than 300 athletes.

The triathletes had to swim a total of 750 meters, to later face 20 kilometers of cycling and a 5.000-meter running race.

The naval commander of Miño, Juan Díaz, told EFE that as soon as he entered the water, the young neighbor of Barcelos and 23,  began to feel in difficulties and asked for help.

One of the safety boats of the test approached but when it was already near the young its crew watched as it sank to the bottom of the river.

Update: 16: 50

The search has resumed but Civil Guard divers have had trouble diving into the well where it is believed that the body was trapped.

More than 5 participate in the device0 effective by land, air and water, with the intervention of specialized divers of the Navy.

These employ a multi-beam side sweep probe to track the bottom of the river in search of submerged objects to narrow down the point at which to make the dives.

 The search is carried out in a section of about four kilometers, in places where there is a lot of current.

The triathlete was facing the swimming segment when his eye contact was lost. The hypothesis is that he drowned and a device of ships and helicopters scrutinized the river in search of the body.

The organization itself gave the alarm when they realized that one of the registrants did not reach the checkpoint, according to official sources. After the event all the competitive activity was suspended