A race against time on the Paraná
Argentine naval patrol and rural police units from Bella Vista, Corrientes, are combing the waters of the Paraná and the surrounding island chain for two farmhands known so far only by their surnames, Ledesma and Salazar. The pair were last seen Friday while carrying out their usual duties near Ibirapitá island, a riverside area where the terrain and currents demand local expertise.[S1][S2]
The joint operation began intensively at first light on Saturday, on the premise that every hour counts and that any trace in the river could prove decisive. The police launch L-01 leads the waterborne sweeps, backed by specialists from the Special Rural and Ecological Security Unit, working alongside Prefectura personnel and an officer from the town's Second Police Station.[S1][S3]
Cattle drive cut short by rising water
According to local media accounts, the workers were moving livestock to safety from the floodwaters. During that task they are believed to have tried to cross an internal lagoon on the island, at which point contact with them was lost. A horse was also found in the area, drowned.[S2]
Early versions had raised the possibility of a boating accident, but later information pointed instead to the men herding animals. No official word has been given on finding the workers, and the search continues.[S2]
Flood emergency grips the province
The disappearance comes as Corrientes confronts an emergency caused by the swelling Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The latest Civil Defense survey released Saturday counted 472 people who have left their homes: 206 evacuated by the authorities and 266 who moved out on their own, mostly to stay with relatives or acquaintances.[S2]
Six localities are affected, and provincial and municipal agencies are monitoring river levels for the risk that water will spread into new populated areas. Itatí is among the hardest hit, with 110 people from 43 families evacuated to the Casa Promesera and the Taba Cué lodging, both fitted out to shelter those displaced. In the city of Corrientes, 266 people have self-evacuated.[S2]
The flooding has also claimed a life. Jorge Eliezer Hardy, a 70-year-old farmer, drowned in a lagoon at Villa Ocampo, Santa Fe, while trying to move cattle to safety. He entered the water to redirect one of the animals and disappeared beneath the surface; companions could not save him. The tragedy occurred at El Víbora lagoon, in the Mian estate, a wetland area about 15 kilometers east of Villa Ocampo and roughly two kilometers south of the El Pindó bridge.[S3]
