From party to nightmare… After Montauban’s victory against Narbonne in Pro D2 on Friday evening (48-40), the local players went to water their last home success of the season in a nightclub. Probably a bit too much for Samoan third row Kelly Meafua, 32.
The body of the USM player was found lifeless on Saturday morning on the banks of the Tarn. According to initial findings, Tarn-et-Garonne firefighters were alerted shortly after 6:30 a.m. for two people who had fallen into the river at Pont-Vieux in the city center of Montauban.
A dozen firefighters from SDIS 82 were dispatched to the scene, but the damage was already done. Christopher Vaotoa, 25, pillar of the USM, was rescued from hypothermia and transported in stable condition to the hospital center.
He would have jumped from the bridge to try to save his teammate, whose inert body was found a little later. “I saw a second person jump to try to help him and I held the third, very alcoholic, who wanted to do the same,” said a witness to the scene at the Dépêche du Midi.