The negligence behind the tragedy in Imbituba that killed two Uruguayans

By William Varela

The tragedy in Imbituba Brazil, which claimed the lives of a Uruguayan father and daughter this Tuesday, is the obscene result of an infrastructure abandoned at random. It wasn't lightning, it wasn't an unpredictable storm; It was a high tension cable lying on the ground of a public footpath, waiting for a victim. As the family walked towards Praia dos Amores, in the Ribanceira area, what should have been a moment of disconnection turned into an execution due to negligence. This fact cannot be classified as an “accident” when state and corporate apathy allows lethal power lines to coexist with the passage of tourists.

The official report confirmed that the man and his daughter died instantly after coming into contact with the energy that no one bothered to cut off or signal. The young woman's mother, the only survivor of this horror, was rushed to a local hospital, carrying the trauma of having seen her family be consumed by the ineffectiveness of a system that prioritizes the collection of fees over the maintenance of its networks. The presence of high-power wiring in a wooded path, without protection or automatic security protocols, is an offense that should lead to immediate criminal responsibilities for the leaders of the energy company and municipal authorities.

The background of the Tragedy in Imbituba and state apathy

The outrage in the region Santa Catarina It is not new, but this event gives a name and nationality to a latent danger. The Brazilian coast promotes its landscapes as earthly paradises, but hides a reality of cables eaten away by saltpeter and poles that are held up by inertia. The residents of Ribanceira had already warned about the precariousness of the lines on the paths that lead to the most isolated beaches, but their complaints ended up in bureaucratic drawers. The State's response comes late, as always, when there are already bodies to be repatriated and families destroyed.

It is unacceptable that a modern electrical network does not have security systems that detect a voltage drop and cut off the supply instantly. The fact that the cable remained with a lethal charge in wet soil is irrefutable proof that monitoring protocols are non-existent or failed. Concessionaire companies usually hide behind the complex geography of the area, but that same geography is what generates million-dollar profits for them every summer. If they cannot guarantee that a path to the beach is safe, the destination should not be open to the public.

A path turned into a trap due to lack of investment

The route to Praia dos Amores is traveled by hundreds of people every day. The abandonment of secondary trails is a constant complaint of travelers seeking to escape the crowds. In this case, the weeds and the lack of cleaning of the electrical route made it easy for the damage to go unnoticed until it was too late. The death of these Uruguayan citizens exposes the bitterest side of tourism in southern Brazil: an infrastructure that is falling apart while the authorities look the other way, trusting that “nothing ever happens” until disaster strikes.

The survivor, now hospitalized with shock and physical injuries, is the living reminder of a chain of human and technical errors. The Uruguayan consulate is already working on assistance, but diplomatic pressure must be firm so that the investigation is not diluted over time. The expertise of the Scientific Police must be exhaustive and not limited to the cable in question, but rather audit the maintenance records of the entire Ribanceira network in recent years. Prevention failed at all levels, and that has names and surnames responsible.

Justice and security: a pending debt on the beaches

The impact of this incident should mark a before and after in the supervision of risk areas in seaside areas. Brazil cannot continue receiving tourists if it is not able to ensure that a simple walk in the mountains will not end in a mass electrocution. The lives of a father and daughter are priceless, and no civil compensation can repair the damage caused by a loose cable that should have been repaired months ago. The Brazilian justice system has before it the opportunity to set a precedent against the impunity of energy companies that save on maintenance crews at the cost of the lives of users.

As the country prepares for final examinations and repatriation, the international tourism community watches with suspicion. Paradise cannot be electrified. Security is not a luxury, it is the minimum requirement for anyone to decide to cross the border. If walking on a public footpath means risking your life due to technical negligence, then the system has completely failed. It is time for authorities to stop making climate excuses and start providing operational responses so that no one else has to die from a cable thrown in the road.