The judge of the 'Villa de Pitanxo case' listens tomorrow to 13 sailors from the ship that rescued the survivors

They are the crew members Playa de Menduiña Dos, who also transferred the bodies located from the shipwreck

MADRID, 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court investigating the shipwreck of the Galician fishing vessel 'Villa de Pitanxo', which occurred in waters near the Island of Newfoundland (Canada), will take a statement this Wednesday from 13 sailors from the Playa de Menduiña Dos, the ship that rescued the the three survivors of the water in the early hours of February 15.

Legal sources confirmed to Europa Press that the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 2, Ismael Moreno, agreed to call the crew of said boat, which was fishing in the area at the time of the shipwreck of the 'Villa de Pitanxo', to court and that the survivors and several bodies found in the water were transferred to the mainland.

The National Court has been coordinating the investigation since last September after Judge Moreno definitively assumed jurisdiction. The magistrates of the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber endorsed this same month of November the decision adopted on September 8 by the instructor.

Moreno has already taken a statement from the skipper of the fishing boat, Juan Padín, as the defendant, his nephew Eduardo Rial and the sailor Samuel Kwesi, as witnesses, as they were the only survivors of the shipwreck.

The judicial investigations are due to the fact that Kwesi has offered a version that contradicts the one exposed by Rial and Padín and that would point to possible negligence on the part of the latter that would have triggered the tragedy.

After listening to them, the judge prohibited Padín from leaving Spain, withdrew his passport and imposed the obligations of appearing every fortnight in court and remaining located.

Now it is the turn of these 13 sailors, who will testify in Madrid starting at 09:30. All this after they told the Civil Guard what the three surviving sailors recounted in the moments after being rescued.

The Galician fishing vessel 'Villa de Pitanxo' sank on February 15, 450 kilometers from Newfoundland in an accident in which 21 of the 24 workers on board lost their lives.