Slovakia’s Interior Ministry will give medals for selfless deeds in memoriam to three Spanish police officers who died near A Corunna at the end of January while they were trying to save a Slovak citizen from the rough seas, the TASR newswire reported.
“The Spanish police officers sacrificed their lives by attempting to save the life of somebody else, in this case a Slovak citizen,” said Slovakia’s Interior Minister, Daniel Lipšic, as quoted by TASR. “Unfortunately, they did not succeed. It is an immense tragedy and this award should serve as a symbolic expression of sympathy from Slovakia.”
Javier López López, Rodrigo Maseda Lozano and José Antonia Villamor Vázquez, all members of the Spanish National Police Force, died after venturing into the sea near A Corunna to save the 24-year-old Slovak student who was swept out by a wave as he was swimming with two companions after a party.
This is the first time that foreign police officers will be given the award, as the medal for selfless deeds is normally reserved for Slovak police officers. The spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, Gábor Grendel, added that the medals will be presented to the bereaved of the Spanish officers by Slovakia’s ambassador to Spain Ján Škoda.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
