Colombian woman, 26, killed by boat propeller while trying to retrieve thongs

A young woman was killed by a boat propeller after jumping into the water to retrieve her thongs. A gruesome video has emerged of her final moments.

A young Colombian woman was killed by a boat propeller last month after jumping into the water to retrieve her thongs – and now gruesome video has emerged of her final moments.

Natalia Andrea Larrañaga Fajardo, 26, of Cali in the country’s southwest, was visiting White Watta beach on San Andrés island on November 27 when she hopped into a boat full of her acquaintances, the Miami Herald reported.

Ms Fajardo accidentally left her sandals behind, and jumped back into the ocean to retrieve them. Seconds later, she was accidentally struck by the boat’s propeller, the New York Post reported.

A video shared by the Archipelago Press showed people on nearby vessels screaming as Ms Fajardo bled heavily from catastrophic injuries to her legs and lower back.

Witnesses screamed as Fajardo bled out from her injuries. Picture: CEN

Fajardo was pronounced dead in the early hours of November 28. Picture: CEN

She was eventually pulled onto a jet ski and rushed to the hospital. A statement from the State Social Enterprise Department Hospital of San Andrés to the news outlet El Isleño confirmed that she arrived around 5.30pm local time.

After extensive surgery and several blood transfusions, Ms Fajardo was pronounced dead around 2.30am on November 28, the hospital said.

The boat and its crew are now both reportedly under investigation by area authorities.

News of Ms Fajardo’s horrific accident comes just a few months after Lana Batochir, a Chicago mum of two, had both her feet severed by a boat propeller on Lake Michigan.

Both the boat and its crew are reportedly under investigation. Picture: CEN.

“I thought I was dying,” she told reporters of her harrowing experience. “I fought for my life for seconds which felt like minutes. I began to drown, I couldn’t swim.”

Ms Batochir, 34, underwent a below-the-knee amputation and nerve surgery for her injuries, after which she began the gruelling rehabilitation process. “Anyone who knows me knows that I love to dance, love music, and enjoying life itself with family,” she lamented at the time. “My life has completely changed because of one unfortunate tragedy.”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission