Two influencers drowned after refusing to wear life jackets when the speedboat they were on capsized off the Brazilian coast.
Videos by Wide Open Country
On September 29, these two influencers, Aline Tamara Moreira de Amorim, 37, and Beatriz Tavares da Silva Faria, 27, boarded a speedboat with four others including the captain. They had been partying on a luxury yacht off the coast of Sao Paulo.
According to local outlets, the speedboat captain was ordered to transport the five of them despite the boat only having capacity for five total passengers. Unfortunately, the water was too choppy and the boat too heavy. The vessel succumbed to the waves and began to sink.
The captain stresses that he tried everything he could to equip his passengers with life jackets. "Some didn't want to put them on because they were taking selfies," Sao Vincente Police Commissioner Marcos Alexandra Alfino said, recounting the captain's statement. The life jackets would "get in the way of their tanning."
Faria's body was found Brazil's Maritime Firefighters adrift at sea. Amorium's body was found washed up on the coast of Itaquitanduva Beach a week later.
Influencers Drown After Speedboat Capsizes
The other passengers aboard the speedboat donned or held their lifejackets immediately, and survived the sinking. They were sprawled out into the ocean. The awful waves denied them vision.
"There was a moment in the water when no one could see anyone," Vanessa Audrey da Silva told numerous outlets, "I was fighting for my life."
The passengers were rescued by responding forces. The two influences likely quickly drowned and were taken away by the vicious currents. The boat sank in the Devil's Throat along the Iguazu River.
According to local outlets, Alfino explained that "All this is being determined very calmly to conclude if the fatalities were based on recklessness or negligence."
The skipper, who's remained unnamed, stresses that he couldn't have done anything else.
It is unclear whether the late influencers refused life jackets while the boat was sinking or before. It may be the case that the initial refusal meant they weren't equipped when the waves took over and they were unable to secure life jackets past that point. It's hard to believe passengers would refuse life jackets while the boat they are in is actively sinking.
Both of their bodies have been recovered, and the investigation is ongoing.