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Call for answers after student dies at boat party

Lewis Adams
News imageCassie Amaral Julian Amaral has long black hair and is smiling while wearing a dark headpiece. He is also wearing a grey vest and has a black backpack over his shoulders.Cassie Amaral
Julian Amaral died after falling overboard at a boat party in Portugal

The family of a student who died after falling from a boat party in Portugal has vowed to get answers about his death.

Maritime police found the body of Julian Amaral, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in the water five days after he fell overboard on 1 September.

The 23-year-old, who travelled to Lisbon for two family weddings, had been among 200 people at a white-themed party on the boat.

"We want to get to the bottom of what happened to him and how it happened," his sister, Cassie Amaral, 29, told the BBC.

"No-one should go on a boat ride and show up dead five days later," she said.

The family spent five days frantically searching for Amaral before his body was spotted at the Port of Lisbon at 19:20 local time (18:20 BST) on Monday.

News imageCassie Amaral Julian Amaral sitting around a table on holiday with five relatives.Cassie Amaral
Amaral's relatives have been fighting to repatriate his body to the UK

"From the get-go, the people on the boat said it was impossible – he would not fall," his sister said.

She believed mixed accounts given to the police delayed the start of their investigation.

"It was very, very surreal because I felt like I was in a movie," Amaral added.

"You hear stories like this and you don't think it's going to happen to you, ever. It's heart-wrenching."

'Amazing guy'

Amaral had family in Portugal but was born and raised in High Wycombe, while also studying at London Metropolitan University.

He was days away from starting a new job at Lloyd's Bank, and his relatives are now fighting to repatriate his body to the UK.

They have been supported by an online fundraiser which has garnered more than £20,000.

Cassie Amaral said: "The amount of messages we have received from complete strangers saying the story really touched them is amazing.

"It just makes us feel so warm inside, because we know how much of a good boy he was and we're happy other people can see that too."

Paying tribute to her "gym freak" brother, Amaral added: "He was an amazing guy.

"If you needed him for anything, he would help you as best as he can. He really will be missed by so many people."

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