First aid officer recalls search for soldier missing in cold water

An army first aider, who was at the training exercise in which a soldier drowned, testified yesterday that the armed forces had no life jackets in their stores.

Gunner Johann Cachia was testifying in the case against 27-year-old Lieutenant Christian Vella and Lance Bombardier Marvic Peregin, 31, who are pleading not guilty to the involuntary homicide of 19-year-old gunner Matthew Psaila through negligence last February 13. They were also charged with committing a crime they were in duty bound to prevent.

At the time of the incident Gnr Cachia said he was stationed with C-Company as a safety officer and was standing on a tunnel the soldiers had to pass under in freezing cold water. Nobody had told him how deep the water was but Lt Vella had told him to be prepared for anything that could happen. All of the sudden, panic broke out after some of the group of soldiers that were with the victim got out of the water and started shouting "Psaila, Psaila, Psaila".

He jumped into the water and was immediately shocked by how cold it was: "My heart felt as if it had stopped and I found it hard to breath," he said. He then tried to look for the young soldier when he felt something hitting his feet and shouted out: "Here he is, here he is". He went under to try and pull the soldier to the surface. "It really took a lot of strength to try and pull him up."

The soldier then performed CPR on Gnr Psaila. The young soldier started coughing up water. After that they placed him in a sleeping bag to try and control the hypothermia.

Gnr Cachia said all available safety equipment had been taken with them to the exercise but there were no life jackets in the stores, only a few life rings.

Gunner Patrick Borg, who had been leading another section, testified that he had trained in Italy and experienced colder water than at Chadwick lakes. Nobody was wearing life rings during the exercise because they hindered movement.

Problem areas had been noted before the exercise and the soldiers had been warned that there could be places where they would not be able to cope and would have to swim. Gnr Psaila, who could not swim, did not say so when the soldiers were asked whether they had any trouble swimming before the exercise.

Lawyer Emmanuel Mallia, appearing for the victim's family, asked what boots the soldiers were wearing when they were in the water. Gnr Borg said he did not verify because there was little difference between the AFM issue and what the soldiers bought privately. Replying to further questions, he said the AFM issue shoes were made of leather and when water went into them it remained inside while in the case of the other boots the water drained out.

The case continues.