On Monday, a terrible drama took place on the Deva river located in the Cantabria region of Spain.
Raphaël Ibanez, manager of the XV of France, and his childhood friend Fabrice Labarrière had decided to go down the river in a kayak.
The duo's trip turned tragic when Fabrice Labarrière's boat overturned near the village of La Hermida.
"
He fell off his boat and got stuck in the eddies under a rock and some branches.
He drowned,
says a relative of Raphaël Ibanez at Parisian.
Raphael was next to him.
He did everything he could to save him, but to no avail
.
According to the newspaper El Comercio, significant resources including two helicopters were deployed to find the 48-year-old victim from the Landes.
His lifeless body was eventually located near two rocks known in the region as “Las Lágrimas de Don Pelayo” (Don Pelayo's tears).
Stuck under branches, its extraction required the use of ropes and the cutting of a tree trunk.