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Date Published: 29/08/2022

ARCHIVED - British man passes out and dies at Costa Blanca beach in Alicante, Spain

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The 74-year-old fell unconscious whilst swimming in the sea at L'Ampolla beach in Moraira

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - British man passes out and dies at Costa Blanca beach in Alicante, Spain

A British man, 74, has died after suffering a suspected heart attack and falling unconscious whilst swimming at L'Ampolla beach in Moraira, Alicante province – the latest in a string of tragedies along the Costa Blanca coastline this summer.

Lifeguards raced to help the elderly bather at around 2pm on Saturday August 27 and brought him onto the sand to try to revive him. Paramedics were quickly on the scene and continued CPR, but despite their efforts, they were unable to save the victim and he was pronounced dead on the beach.

It's not clear whether the man was on holiday or lives in the area and an investigation into his death is underway.

A post-mortem was carried out over the weekend, but the results have not been made public.

In July, 16 people died on beaches and coves in the Valencian Region, the autonomous community with the highest number of deaths by drowning in a month.

Also read: Spain has hit annual drowning death toll by mid-August

According to data from the Spanish Lifeguard Federation, the Region remains at the top of the table of deaths by drowning so far this year with 40 cases, a position it has not relinquished since 2019.

In an attempt to stem the life-loss, the Regional Government launched yet another awareness campaign to warn bathers of the multiple risks involved in swimming in the sea and reckless behaviour. Despite this, deaths have continued to occur on an almost weekly basis.

And at the start of the summer, the Generalitat unveiled 20 drones which are loaned to local councils to reinforce surveillance along the coast and prevent drownings - doubling the number of 'eyes in the sky' available to coastal towns.

However, the drones are not yet available along the entire coastline, and are currently in use in: Altea, Orihuela, Santa Pola, El Campello, Benidorm, Denia, Javea and Guardamar del Segura.

Earlier this month, the Generalitat shared footage of one of the flying robots proving instrumental in the rescue of a 19-year-old woman swept out to sea in Santa Pola, Alicante.

Now read: Family rescued after engine fails on motorboat leaving them adrift near rocks in Denia

Image: Ayuntamiento de Teulada-Moraira (Archive)

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