The National Maritime Authority assured today that the necessary means were put in place to prevent World Youth Day (WYD) pilgrims from diving into unguarded areas of the Tagus River to cool off.
During the daily press conference on the WYD security operation, which is now in its third day, the spokesman for the National Maritime Authority, José Sousa Luís, explained that resources from the Maritime Police, the Shipwreck Relief Institute and the Portuguese Navy are mobilized.
José Sousa Luís explained that the device was reinforced last Friday and integrates, “in the water plane, a diverse set of means”, such as speedboats of the Maritime Police and lifeboats and motorcycles of maritime rescue of the Institute of Aid to Shipwrecked.
“In the particular case of Parque Tejo, during the events, we will also have a reinforcement of boats of marines of the Portuguese Navy”, advanced the responsible, adding that, in the riverside area “there are several patrols either on foot or motorized”.
According to the spokesman for the National Maritime Authority, “specifically in Parque Tejo there is a patrol on the north side of the River Trancão specifically to make the interdiction, so that pilgrims do not enter the River Tagus”, and another to the south.
“In addition, there is a physical barrier of the park that does not allow pilgrims to enter the banks. But in case they pass that barrier, there are these patrols on the land side and then there are boats on the river side,” he stressed.
More than a million people are expected in Lisbon until Sunday for WYD, considered the biggest event of the Catholic Church and which is attended by Pope Francis.
The main initiatives of the day take place in Parque Eduardo VII, in the Belém area and in Parque Tejo, an enclosure of about 100 hectares north of Parque das Nações and on land in the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
