A man who survived a gruesome 15 months at sea by drinking urine and turtle blood has been accused and slammed with $1m lawsuit for allegedly eating his friend to survive.

 

Salvador Alvarenga, 36, is being sued by the family of the crewmate identified as Ezequiel Cordoba, 22 who claimed that Alvarenga, ate crewmate after their boat drifted nearly 7,000 miles from Mexico and was badly damaged by a storm in November 2012.

 

Mother of Ezequiel Cordoba with framed picture of son

 

The boat landed on the Marshall Islands where he described how he ate birds and fish he managed to catch by hand. He said when Cordoba died, he left his rotting body on the boat for nearly a week before throwing it overboard.

 

However, Mr Cordoba’s family say they think he was a victim of cannibalism accused Alvarenga of murdering their son. Although Alvarenga published a book about his ordeal which gave graphic evidence of the event and described how the journey went, the family of Ezequiel still do not believe him.

 

His lawyer Ricardo Cucalon, told El Salvador’s El Diario de Hoy newspaper: ‘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.’

 

The case against Alvarenga continues as they battle in court. How this will end is yet to be seen as the dead man's family have vowed to continue the fight until they get justice.