Laurence Dollimore
THE mystery surrounding the death of Alvaro Prieto has finally been solved more than five days after the teenager vanished.
The 18-year-old footballer, of Russain origin, was discovered wedged between two train carriages in Sevilla on Monday after disappearing last Thursday following a night out with friends.
Police have confirmed that the engineering student was electrocuted while standing on top of a train before falling down the gap between the two carriages.
Due to his body’s advanced state of decomposition, investigators believe he died the same day he vanished.
It means the corpse of the tragic teen spent four days wedged between train cars just 2km from where he was last seen, despite an extensive search by Policia Nacional, Guardia Civil and sniffer dogs.
He was only discovered by chance when a live TV broadcast saw his feet sticking out from the train as it travelled past an RTVE camera crew.
It emerged yesterday that the aspiring footballer, who played for youth team Cordoba FC, was unable to board his 7.20am train home from Sevilla Santa Justa because his mobile phone had run out of battery.
He tried to catch an 8.55am train but was kicked off by security for failing to show a ticket and was seen leaving the station on CCTV heading towards Kansas City avenue at around 9am.
He was last seen by a local middle-aged woman at around 10.30am on the side of a road, some 20 minutes’ walk from Santa Justa station.
A days’ long search by police, including sniffer dogs, turned up nothing, only for his body to be found between two carriages of a moving train during a live TV broadcast by RTVE on Monday morning.
Adding to the mystery, the operator Monday said the train in question had not been in service for weeks.
Renfe said in a statement: “The train where the body of Álvaro Prieto López was found had not been in service for weeks. It was broken down and during these days it has not made any movement nor has it undergone any inspection or maintenance.”
Police last night scoured the CCTV surrounding the train and found a camera from a petrol station.
Its footage shows Alvaro standing on the roof of the train. He then grabs the overhanging wires and is electrocuted, before falling between the two carriages.
The wires are said to have shocked the teen with a lethal charge of 3,500 volts.
His mother Julia, who adopted Alvaro as a toddler with her husband Rafael, yesterday said her son was desperate to get home after not being allowed to board a train at the station.
Social media users have been demanding answers from train operator RENFE as to why the teenager was not given more help.
One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote: “I can’t believe Renfe had the nerve to remove him from the train when he said he had a ticket on his phone.
“They could have given him a charger or simply a fine and let him on board, but no.”
