British Tourist Drowns in Colombia During Wedding Trip
A British tourist who drowned while on holiday in Colombia has been identified locally as James Michael Winkles. The 30-year-old tragically lost his life during an early-hours swim off the Caribbean port city of Cartagena on Sunday.
Details of the Tragedy
Colombian media, citing municipal authorities, named Winkles as the holidaymaker who died. Harrowing footage published locally showed a woman crouching over his body by the shoreline, weeping inconsolably. James had reportedly travelled to Cartagena to get married, although officials have not yet confirmed whether any wedding ceremony had taken place.
Local authorities stated he arrived in Colombia on March 9 and was staying at a hotel in El Laguito, a popular tourist peninsula and residential neighbourhood where the incident occurred. The alarm was raised around 7am on Sunday, and despite efforts by emergency responders to revive him, the British holidaymaker was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigation and Conditions
Sea conditions at the time he entered the water were described as rough. An investigation into the tragedy was ongoing on Monday, with the tourist's death preliminarily described as accidental. His body has been taken to a city forensic medicine institute for a post-mortem examination.
A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign Office told the Daily Mail: 'We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in Colombia.'
Previous Incident in the Area
In a separate incident in January, two British tourists cheated death after the sailing boat they were on was hit by a cargo vessel near Cartagena and sank. Colombian naval officers rescued the holidaymakers and 18 others on board, who saved themselves by jumping into emergency life rafts following an early-hours collision.
Their rescuers published video footage showing them helping the stricken travellers to safety, where they were checked over by doctors. Miraculously, all survived unharmed. The tourists were thought to have been nearing the end of a five-day, four-night tour from Panama to Colombia starting in the San Blas Islands.
The boat, not officially named, was a New Zealand-built classic topsail schooner sailboat called Alessandra, skippered by Italian Rudolf Gamberoni. The voyage is billed online as a pirate trip, with Alessandra described as a Hollywood star for featuring in the 1994 film Legends of the Fall.
Navy chiefs confirmed those on board included two British nationals, six Germans, four French people, two Swiss, three Colombians, and three others from Italy, Belgium, and Turkey.
