BOLZANO. The 55-year-old who died yesterday evening (May 23) during a kayak descent in the Aurino stream in Val Pusteria was a canoeing champion. Massimo Benetton, a freestyle and rodeo master, he was swept away by the current and drowned.
Condolences from the Italian Tourist Canoe Federation who on his Facebook profile gives news of the tragic death and recalls that Benetton had participated in a summer meeting in Eygliers teaching rodeo kayaks.
The man, of Venetian origins (from Meolo) but domiciled in San Candido, was found in Val Pusteria for a few months for work.
Together with a group of friends, he set off on Tuesday evening around 8 pm from the locality of Gisse in the Municipality of Valle Aurina to go down the river in a kayak.
When he was near the hamlet of Caminata di Campo Tures he was unable to steer the kayak and was thrown into the water. The strong currents dragged him into the eddies of the stream.
Friends tried to save him using ropes but it wasn’t enough.
The man was recovered by the firefighters and brought ashore but the emergency doctor could only ascertain his death.
The body was taken to the mortuary in Molini di Tures at the disposal of the judicial authority.
The carabinieri of Campo Tures intervened on the spot.
