Maritime and police authorities are today carrying out searches in the Guadiana, after having located the vehicle of a woman reported missing on Monday night submerged in the river, said a source from the Maritime Authority.
Speaking to Lusa, João Afonso Martins, captain of the port of Vila Real de Santo António, in the district of Faro, said that the missing woman's vehicle was located at 10:00 am, at a depth of about 10 meters by firefighter divers.
“We found the vehicle, but it turned out that there was no one inside,” he noted, adding that diving operations began at 9:30 am, when tide conditions allowed.
On Tuesday afternoon, he added, marks were found “on a small curb” on the road, which indicated that the vehicle “had skidded off the road and fallen into the river”.
João Afonso Martins explained that the woman's vehicle, which allegedly disappeared after leaving the restaurant where she worked, “was detected approximately 15 meters from the edge and 10 meters deep, in line with the road markings on the kerb”.
According to the commander of the Maritime Police (PM) of Vila Real de Santo António, given that the woman was not found in the vehicle, the authorities mobilized several resources to carry out searches in the water, as well as on the banks of the river, both on the Portuguese and Spanish sides.
At this moment, seven vessels from the PM, the Coastal Control Unit of the National Republican Guard, the Institute for Aid to Shipwrecked People and the Seawatch Project are engaged in maritime operations.
In addition to these, several material and human resources from Portugal and Spain are mobilized, which carry out surveillance on the ground, concluded the official.
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