Colombian student Yurany Vanegas Peña, 24, dies after her limbs are ripped off by boat propeller while swimming with her family

A college student’s vacation in Colombia ended in tragedy when she was killed after her limbs were ripped off by a boat propeller.

Yurany Vanegas, 24, was swimming with her family in Haynes Key in San Andres when she was struck by single-engine boat Friday.

The Colombian Navy said that small vessel’s captain did not notice that Vanegas was in the water when he ran her over.

Vanegas, a resident of the central city of Cajicá, lost two limbs in the accident.

The boat captain rushed her Clarence Lynd Newball Memorial Hospital, where she arrived without vital signs to the loss of blood, El Tiempo reported.

Yurany Vanegas’ body under water moments after she was struck by a boat and killed

San Andres Governor Everth Hawkins lamented the young woman’s death and said that an investigation is under way.

The boat captain voluntarily turned himself in to the police as part of the investigation. 

Funeral and burial services for Vanegas were scheduled to take place Tuesday. 

The deadly incident is the second since November 27, 2022 when Natalia Larrañaga, 26, was killed by a boat while she was swimming in San Andres.

Larrañaga, who was visiting from the southwestern city of Cali, had both of her legs cut off by the boat properly and died the following morning at a hospital.  

A similar accident occurred when Costa Rica tourist Joan López, 21, was struck by a propeller in Cartagena on August 20, though he was fortunate enough to survive. 

Yurany Vanegas was rushed to a local hospital by the captain of the boat that ran over her. The 24-year-old did not have vital signs when she arrived at the medical facility and was declared dead

The boat involved in the deadly accident that killed 24-year-old Yurany Vanegas in San Andrés, Colombia

López was trying to climb back into the boat when the captain turned on the engine without seeing López.

He suffered cuts to the abdomen and genital area, and was taken to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. 

Governor Hawkins called on members of the department’s congress to set aside their own interests and pass legislation that will prevent similar incidents from occurring in San Andres.

Hawkins is seeking to limiting a specific area of beaches to swimmers only and banning boats navigating the vicinity.

‘This is a situation that concerns us and draws our attention to the fact that anarchy must cease and order must prevail to provide a good tourism service,’ Hawkins said. ‘It has been of no use to us to seek to be a tourist showcase, the (Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism) has been of no use to us to be a desired destination, to seek a reduction in the price of fuel, to seek air connectivity, so that we do not understand that what we need as service providers.’