Barraqueiro disappears in the sea of Boa Viagem while trying to save tourists from drowning; firefighters search

A man disappeared at sea, at Praia de Boa Viagem, in the South Zone of Recife, while trying to save a drowning tourist. The case happened around 8am this Saturday (24), in an area with a rip current, in the vicinity of Três Jardim, close to Posto 5.

The Fire Department carries out searches at the site, with the help of a helicopter, drone and watercraft. According to witnesses, the missing man, identified as Rafael Vitor Correia da Silva, aged 28, worked as a stall holder in the region.

One of the people who helped with the rescue was surfer Geovane Leite, who noticed movement on the beach while running along the shore. According to Geovane, in a video sent to TV Globo, the woman was at sea with a foreign man.

He said the foreigner managed to get out of the water, but the woman continued to drown. When he arrived at the scene, the boatman was already trying to help the victim, but he was tired and a little further back in the sea.

With the help of a rope, Geovane managed to remove the woman from the sea. When he returned to look for the stallholder, he was no longer able to find Rafael Vitor.

"It was a drowning couple, but the man managed to get out and the girl was inside. I managed to get to the girl, and the guy, who was trying to get the girl out, was a little behind her, exhausted. [...] Then I asked people to throw a rope. [...] When we grabbed the rope and got the girl out, we looked back to see the guy who was trying to get her out, but he disappeared. It was very quick", recalled Geovane.

Firefighters were called and have been searching for Rafael Vitor ever since. The victim's cousin, identified only as Larissa, followed the search for the sand and said that the couple rescued from the sea were tourists and left the place.

"It was his thing to help people. When he saw it, he went there and helped the couple. The couple escaped from the place and my cousin disappeared. They didn't stay to say anything, nor give any information to the family and tell them how it happened", said Larissa in an interview with TV Globo.

According to Larissa, her cousin had been working as a stall holder there for around 10 months. The tourists who were rescued from the sea have not been identified and there is no information as to whether they required medical attention.

Fire Department Lieutenant Paloma Mendes said that, at the time the firefighters were called, the teams were not yet at the support point, which is close to the place where the incident occurred.

"At the time of the call, around 7:45 am, our team was already ready to take over the job, leaving GBMar to take over the positions. When we received [the call], we came straight here. As soon as we arrived, we got information from the people who were here and we found out that he had submerged around 10 minutes ago," said the firefighter.

The lieutenant reported that the team first entered the sea with boards and fins to search closer to the sea's edge.

Afterwards, watercraft were mobilized to carry out searches around the perimeter of Pina and Boa Viagem. In addition, the helicopter from the Tactical Air Group (GTA) was also called in to help with the rescue.