Two social media influencers drowned during a yacht party in because they reportedly “refused to wear lifejackets” – because they were taking selfies.
Victims, identified as Aline Tamara Moreira de Amorim, 37, and Beatriz Tavares da Silva Faria, 27, were found dead after their overcrowded boat sank off a perilous stretch of coast known as the Devil’s Throat in Brazil.
Nearly a month after the tragic incident, police have revealed that the women lost their lives when their overloaded boat was swamped on its return journey to the Brazilian coast post-party due to a massive wave.
According to Sao Vincente police commissioner Marcos Alexandre Alfino, the influencers had declined to wear life jackets, say local media.
(Image: Newsflash)
He stated: “Some didn’t want to put them on because they were taking selfies. They said that they get in the way of their tanning.”
This revelation emerged after the boat’s unnamed skipper gave extensive interviews to the police regarding the fatalities. The captain, who was one of the five survivors, claimed he had been instructed to transport six influencers to the shore despite his boat’s maximum capacity being five passengers.
Consequently, when the vessel was struck by a colossal wave on September 2, it was too heavy to withstand the impact and began to sink. The skipper informed the police that he had made desperate attempts to save everyone.
(Image: Newsflash)
Beatriz’s body was initially discovered drifting out to sea and was retrieved by Brazil’s Maritime Firefighters. A week later, Aline’s body was found washed up on the coast of Itaquitanduva Beach.
Commissioner Alfino added: “All this is being determined very calmly to conclude if the fatalities were based on recklessness or negligence.”
Aline, a mother and non-swimmer, shared her final snaps on social media sporting a brave bikini aboard the ill-fated boat.
She and x-child model Beatriz were killed but Vanessa Audrey da Silva, Camila Alves de Carvalho, Daniel Goncalves Ferreira, Gabriela Santos Lima, and Natan Cardoso Soares da Silva survived.
Survivor Camila said: “There were very strong waves, we almost died. We didn’t know how to swim. I knew that I couldn’t take it for long. I hurt my foot and swallowed a lot of water. We threw ourselves into the rocks.”