Luthgardo Niedo
Luthgardo Niedo | |
|---|---|
 Niedo interviewed in Asia’s Titanic (2009) | |
| Occupation | Soldier of Philippine Constabulary |
| Known for | Surviving collision and sinking of MV Doña Paz |
Luthgardo Niedo is a former Philippine Constabulary soldier and retired Philippine National Police sergeant who survived the MV Doña Paz tragedy.[1][2]
Biography
[edit]Luthgardo Neido was reported to be around 26 years old at the time of the incident (c. 1961).[3] He survives with a wife and three children.[3]
Events of Doña Paz
[edit]On December 20, 1987, in Leyte, Tacloban, Philippines, Neido was joined with a thousand other Constabulary soldiers who boarded the Doña Paz.[2]They noticed that the ship was listed to one side, wherein Niedo, who was long familiar to the overcrowding of such vessels, described the situation as "unavoidable because it was Christmas season”[2] [citation needed]
As night fell, prior to the collision, Niedo heard music emanating from the ship's bridge, to which one of his men described in detail: a party with laughter and loud music, with the captain, Eusebio Nazareno, as an attendee; the other crewmen were playing games, partying, and drinking beer.[4] He would later add to his testimony that there was only one lookout in the bridge, supposedly, who didn't know of the collision till the last minute.
Niedo heard and felt the effects of the collision from the Paz and Vector, stating that all of the ship's lighting turned off and saw flames from the vessel's tail end. Upon encountering the fiery inferno, Niedo claimed he was the first to go into the water and had begun to swim away to safety.[citation needed]
Niedo mentioned once that he tried to save a girl in the water by swimming whilst wrapped to her blue belt until a wave took her under and that he only had the girl’s belt.[3]
Niedo was the only man of the constabulary to survive among 26 other survivors. His other Constabulary men died in the inferno.[citation needed]
Mentions
[edit]In the aftermath of the Doña Paz tragedy, Niedo stated: “I will never ride a ship again”.[4]
Among several survivors who shared the accounts of the incident, Niedo appeared in the documentary Asia's Titanic (2009).[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Ramos, Rogelio (January 30, 1988). "More than 3,000 boarded Doña Paz". Manilla Standard.
- ^ a b c Gonzales, Iris (December 6, 2021). "Inferno at Sea". Philstar.
- ^ a b c J. Japitana, Norma (December 30, 1987). "A Big Wave and The Girl was Gone". Manila Standard. p. 1.
- ^ a b De Guzman, Nicai (December 20, 2018). "Doña Paz: Remembering Asia's Worst Maritime Disaster". Esquire.
- ^ "Asia's Titanic". IMDb.
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