An Italian footballer has drowned after suffering a jet ski accident while on holiday at a Caribbean beach in Colombia.
The body of Nicholas Cudini, 26, from Pocenia, in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, was found after a 22-hour search by the Colombian coastguard in the waters of the popular tourist hotspot Cartagena de Indias, on the country’s Caribbean coast.
Nicholas was riding a jet ski with another person when the vehicle collided with a boat in the area of Cholon Island, about 30 miles south of Cartagena, at around 4.30pm on December 2.
The person who was with Nicholas immediately raised the alarm after realising that the young man had not resurfaced, triggering the search operations. Unfortunately, after hours of operations, his lifeless body was found.
The Colombian Navy confirmed the discovery of Nicholas’ body after a long search. In an official statement, the Coast Guard said: “After more than 22 hours of searching, units of the Armada de Colombia have recovered the lifeless body of Nicholas Cudini, a 26-year-old Italian citizen who had been missing since Monday evening.”
His body was later transported to the Cartagena docks and then transferred to the forensic morgue for an autopsy, which will determine the exact cause of his death.
Originally from Pocenia, a small town in the Lower Friuli region, Nicholas studied at the Zanon Technical Institute in Udine and later moved to the United States to continue his studies at Santa Clara University in California, according to Italian media.
assion was football and played as a midfielder on the Santa Clara University team. His football career also saw him as a player with Udinese youth teams and with ASD Cjarlins Muzane, with whom he made his debut in Serie D.
National World
