Rabat - Spain's Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said Tuesday in Parliament that Morocco is not to be held responsible for the deaths of the two cavers in the High Atlas Mountains earlier this month.
"There can be no criticism to a country (Morocco) which acted in good faith and righteousness in the belief that they could reach to the rescue of the three cavers," the Interior Minister said before the Spanish Senate.
According to elEconomista cited by news website Yabiladi, the Minister said the Spanish authorities were in close contact with their Moroccan counterparts, including King Mohammed VI and the head of government after the Spanish trio slipped and fell to the depths of a 400-meter ravine in Tarmest (Ouarzazate), "but as evident Morocco is a sovereign country with its operating procedures, he explained.
Diaz said that an investigation is currently underway in Morocco based on the testimony of the sole survivor 27-year-old policeman Juan Bolivar. He was evacuated on April 5th by Moroccan police and was then taken to a hospital in Ouarzazate.
He added that autopsies have been performed on the bodies of the two deceased cavers, 41-year-olds lawyer Gustavo Virus and policeman Jose Antonio Martinez.
Following the accident, families and friend of the two Spanish cavers who died in the deep ravine accused Morocco of being slow to launch a rescue mission and the Spanish government of having participated in the "killing" of the cavers.
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