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Topics: Alcohol, Social Media, World News
Britt Jones
Two influencers horrifically drowned after they refused to wear lifejackets and their overcrowded boat sank.
Police say Aline Tamara Moreira de Amorim, 37, and Beatriz Tavares da Silva Faria, 27, died after a yacht party boat sank off the Devil's Throat coast last month.
The pair had been part of a large group, who were taking selfies and enjoying their time out at sea in Brazil.
However, it was found during the investigation that their boat was swamped with too many people as they left the party.
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Sao Vincente police commissioner Marcos Alexandre Alfino told local media their reason for not wearing a lifejacket was because they didn’t want it to disrupt their selfies.
He said: "Some didn’t want to put them on because they were taking selfies.
"They said that they get in the way of their tanning."
The boat's skipper, who has not been named by police, had been co-operating with police and giving extensive interviews.
He also desperately attempted to save the influencers when the boat sank.
The captain, who is only one of the five survivors, claimed to have been told to take six influencers to the shore, even though his boat should only hold a maximum of five passengers.
Vanessa Audrey da Silva, Camila Alves de Carvalho, Daniel Goncalves Ferreira, Gabriela Santos Lima and Natan Cardoso Soares da Silva were the other survivors of the tragic sinking.
Local media reported that when the boat was hit by a large wave on September 29, the boat was unable to endure the heaviness, and it began to sink.
According to reports, Beatriz's body was found first and recovered by Maritime Firefighters as it was drifting out to sea.
However, Aline wasn’t found for another week as her body washed up on Itaquitanduva Beach.
Now, police are investigating whether this could have been a preventable tragedy.
Commissioner Alfino said: "All this is being determined very calmly to conclude if the fatalities were based on recklessness or negligence."
Aline was a mother of one, who could not swim and had posted her last social media post of her on the boat.
Vanessa later explained to local media that the group of influencers had met up to party on a luxury yacht, where they were drinking.
But then, they split into two groups to make the return journey home.
However, Vanessa was on the boat that was hit by the wave, and survived after she managed to find a lifejacket and clung onto rocks so that she didn’t drown.
She said: "There was a moment in the water when no one could see anyone. I was fighting for life."
Camila, another survivor said she clung onto a lifejacket in her hand.
She said: "There were very strong waves, we almost died. We didn’t know how to swim. I knew that I couldn’t take it for long. I hurt my foot and swallowed a lot of water.
"We threw ourselves into the rocks."
UNILAD contacted Sao Vincente police for a comment.