By Daniel Cutts From The Sun UK

Castaway who survived 15 months at sea sued for $1M by dead pal’s family who claim he stayed alive by EATING him

El Salavadorian castaway Jose Ivan and later told that his full name is Jose Salvador Alvarenga walks with the help of a Majuro Hospital nurse in Majuro after a 22-hour boat ride from isolated Ebon Atoll on February 3, 2014Roselia Diaz, mother of dead castaway Ezequiel Cordoba

A CASTAWAY who survived 15 months at sea is being sued for £660,000 by the family of his dead friend after claims he stayed alive by EATING him.

Salvador Alvarenga, 36, washed ashore in January last year on the Pacific’s Marshall Islands after spending 438 days adrift.

He had drifted 6,700 miles from the coast of Mexico, where the boat he and crewmate Ezequiel Cordoba, 22, were sailing in was crippled by a storm.

Alvarenga, of El Salvador, later told how stayed alive by drinking urine and turtle blood and eating fish and birds he caught by hand.

The tuna fisherman described how, after his best friend starved to death early on, he left the rotting body at the boat’s bow for six days for company.

But the family of Mr Cordoba are now demanding $1m compensation after claiming he was a victim of cannibalism, according to reports.

Alvarenga with Roselia Diaz, mum of dead castaway Ezequiel Cordoba
Alvarenga with Roselia Diaz, mum of dead castaway Ezequiel Cordoba AFP

Alvarenga’s lawyer, Ricardo Cucalon, denied the castaway had eaten his shipmate but had instead thrown his body into the water.

He pointed out that the lawsuit was launched just days after the long-awaited book about Alvarenga’s ordeal had been published.

He said: “I believe that this demand is part of the pressure from this family to divide the proceeds of royalties.

“Many believe the book is making my client a rich man, but what he will earn is much less than people think.”

Alvarenga was working in a fishing village on the Pacific coast of Mexico’s southern Chiapas state when the two men took out a small fishing boat to catch tuna.

The craft disappeared during bad weather on 17 November 2012, and no trace of them or the vessel was found during an intense two-week search.

He then washed up on the remote Pacific atoll of Ebon in the Marshall Islands nearly a year and a half later.

After tests, doctors declared him in good physical health.

He has a spinal injury but will only need physiotherapy.

He later said he came close to giving up hope of being rescued after several large ships came near his small fishing boat but none tried to rescue him.

Alvarenga said: “I always had faith in God that I was going to live, asking Him every day, every night.”

He said he became so hungry he began to grab jellyfish from the water, scooping them up in his hands and swallowing them whole.

The castaway added: “It burned the top part of my throat, but wasn’t so bad.”

IMAGES:
Getty Images
Alvarenga washed ashore in January last year on the Pacific’s Marshall Islands AFP
Alvarenga sheds a tear with Ezequiel Cordoba AFP
The claimed boat of Pacific castaway Alvarenga AFP
Alvarenga (centre) sits with his family after his ordeal Reuters
Alvarenga was said to be in good health after tests by doctors AFP

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6805220/Cannibal-Castaway-who-survived-15-months-at-sea-sued-for-1M-by-dead-pals-family-who-claim-he-stayed-alive-by-EATING-him.html