Around 150 people gathered at the three pontoons late in the afternoon to pay a final tribute to two figures of their community. With surfboards in hand, several surfers and the victims’ loved ones entered the water together and swam to the middle of the channel, a few meters from the Taapuna surf spot. There, they stopped to pay their respects together.
Other loved ones, remaining on dry land, accompanied this moment of remembrance, their eyes fixed on the horizon.
Everyone came together to honor the memory of Tom Kostyra, a 23-year-old surf instructor, and Tiaitau Costanza, a 19-year-old bodyboarder. Two young people lost in a road accident that occurred on the night of Saturday, March 21, in Tipaerui, in a curve on the road to Pic Rouge, around midnight.
As a reminder, the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle during an alcoholic evening. The car, carrying three people, ended up on its roof. Tom Kostyra and Tiaitau Costanza died on the spot. A third victim, a 16-year-old, is still hospitalized. This tragedy brings the number of deaths on the roads of French Polynesia to nine since the beginning of the year.
