In a town as small as Blaquier, with just over 600 inhabitants, goodbyes hurt twice as much.
That is why the gas well tragedy, where
six people died of asphyxiation trying to rescue an operator who fainted
, brought infinite pain.
Five of the six victims were neighbors and friends of the town.
The sixth,
Ricardo Bottega (60), was the "town bomber"
although he lived in the town of Ameghino, the head of this party in the northwest of Buenos Aires, near the corner that borders the border with Córdoba and Santa Fe.
They all died trying to get Bottega and those who were entering out.
The neighbors who arrived on foot had responded first to the cries for help, before the volunteer firefighters.
Without masks, of willful people.
Mateo Pellegrino, 27 years old, is another of the volunteer firefighters who died in Blaquier, in the Florentino Ameghino district, Buenos Aires.
The one who had entered was Bottega.
He had to do maintenance work on the well, which had recently been inaugurated.
He had already entered the place in the morning.
She had returned in the afternoon.
Bottega was more than just the "bombista."
He was a guy "loved by everyone," according to what his neighbors said of him on social media.
He was also a musician.
He played the accordion, so he was present at festivals and clubs throughout the area.
From the Tres Algarrobos Retirement Center or the El Ceibo Traditionalist Center they fired him.
"The truth is that I can't find the words
to express so much pain, as must happen to all the people who knew you. What a great person, always with a joke, a song, advice, always offering your hand in case someone needed you. Here You will always continue playing with your accordion," said Ely, one of his friends.
Guille, one of his sons and also a musician, said goodbye to him with a heartfelt letter in which he shared a video of them playing.
"Do you know what hurts me the most? It's that you were loved by everyone, you were friends with everyone, you were there for everyone, everyone loved you.
For me now you're going to the countryside, you'll be at some barbecue
that "They invited you, at the ceibo meetings or doing what you loved most and you told me that it was music," he said goodbye.
A father and his son, volunteer firefighters and a veterinarian: who were the other victims of the Blaquier tragedy
One of the volunteer firefighters who died at the scene is
Mateo Pellegrino, 27 years old
.
Originally from Lincoln, 120 kilometers from Blaquier, he studied Veterinary Medicine at the National University of La Pampa.
Passionate about soccer, he was a fan of Independiente de Avellaneda and played soccer at the Blaquier Social and Sports Club.
Father and son.
A broken family.
That is what the Blaquier tragedy left for the Sánchez family.
Juan Ramón, 50, and his son Juan Nicolás, who everyone knew as "Juani", just 28, died in the accident.
His father Juan Ramón was a car fanatic, and in 2021 he had started competing in the Tc4000.
He was married to Mirna Dovido.
"The Council of Volunteer Firefighters Federations of the Argentine Republic communicates with deep regret the death of Corporal Juan Nicolás Sánchez, belonging to the Blaquier Volunteer Firefighters Association, of the Buenos Aires Federation.
Yesterday, Friday, March 15, Nicolás responded to a call for help in the town of Blaquier.
He unfortunately died in the act of duty," the Volunteer Firefighters of the Argentine Republic reported in a statement. (Edited)
Tragedy in Blaquier: what the victims died of
Around noon this Saturday, the municipality of Ameghino reported that the autopsies carried out by the Assistant Officer, Marianela Di Santos, of the scientific police (judicial department of Junín) on the six deceased 6 indicate "mechanical asphyxiation due to bronchoaspiration.”
Meanwhile, they stated that there are two other firefighters who rescued the bodies of the victims who were under preventive observation at the “Dr.
Felipe A. Pelaez”.
They are stable and close to discharge, according to the official medical report.
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