It was the beautiful project of two childhood friends. An adventure between old friends to enjoy together the beautiful days that are coming back and enjoy their complicity over the water. For a month, the manager of the XV of France Raphaël Ibañez and his childhood friend Fabrice Labarrière had been planning the descent of the Deva river, in the north-west of Spain, until the locals called the Cantabrian Sea and the French the Bay of Biscay. The duo’s journey came to a tragic end on Monday morning, near the village of La Hermida, where Fabrice died.
“He fell from his boat and got stuck in the eddies under a rock and branches, says a relative of the former captain of the France rugby team. He drowned. Raphael was next to him. He did everything he could to save him, but to no avail. »
According to the newspaper El Comercio, the alert was launched around 10 a.m. and required the deployment of significant resources to intervene in what this local daily describes as a place “difficult to access”, and in an area with strong currents. . The body of the 48-year-old Frenchman, originally from the Landes as the former hooker describes Sud Ouest, was found at the height of two rocks, known in the region as “Las Lágrimas de Don Pelayo” (Mr. Pelayo’s tears).
Raphaël Ibañez stayed put
The rescue operation, which required the use of two helicopters, firefighters and civil protection, lasted several hours. The body could not be removed until around 4:30 p.m., after the cutting of branches and a trunk by the emergency services, as well as thanks to the use of ropes. The Deva, which flows in this mountainous region bordering the principality of Asturias, has been particularly turbulent in recent days, in particular due to a significant melting of snow this weekend, assures El Comercio.
Acanta, an association that brings together tourism professionals from the Cantabrian region, told the local media that Raphaël Ibañez and his friend had not called on a guide to supervise their outing. She also maintains that the area is only open to canoes from Thursday to Sunday and that the area of the accident was “not usually used”.
“Very shocked”, the manager of the Blues did not wish to speak about this drama. He is still in Spain, with his wife, and manages the repatriation to France of the body. The dramatic end of his trip with his friend, Fabrice.