A British woman has drowned after a wave swept her into the sea near the famous caves on the Canary Islands.
The 32-year-old holidaymaker was among four people who ended up in the water after being hit by the same wave by the Caves of Ajuy on Fuerteventura on Thursday evening.
The three others, also tourists, managed to swim back to land and survived.
Two local fishermen and an off-duty firefighter tried unsuccessfully to save the woman, while another person ran to a nearby village to find lifebuoys.
A small private boat and emergency responders eventually pulled her out of the water, but it was too late. She was confirmed dead once they reached the shore.
The other three holidaymakers, aged between 18 and 26, were treated at the scene by medics. It is not clear whether they were taken to the hospital.
All four stayed at the same hotel in Corralejo on the islandisland’seast coast.
A person who helped bring the woman out of the water said, “There” was nothing we could do to save her. When we reached her, she was face-down in the water.”
A spokesman for a regional emergency response coordination centre said yesterday, “A 32-“ear-old woman has died at Ajuy in the municipality of Pajara.
The alarm was received yesterday at 8:26 p.m., reporting that various people had fallen into the sea. An emergency response was activated immediately.
Three of those affected could get out of the water, and the fourth, a woman, was rescued by officials from the Fuerteventura CounciCouncil’sency Service and a private boat.
Ambulance staff confirmed she had died when she reached dry land and assisted the other three people, aged between 18 and 26.”
Poli” e could not be reached for comment.
Last year, a 23-year-old woman almost drowned at the caves, which are visited by thousands of tourists each year.
The holidaymaker had reportedly ignored signs warning that the area was off-limits due to a storm.
She and a 25-year-old man were thought to be taking selfies when a massive wave swept them into the water.
The man managed to swim to shore, but the woman could not get back.
Locals, however, threw lifebuoys to help her stay afloat until emergency responders arrived to pull her out.
The Ajuy Caves, the most famous caves in Fuerteventura, were declared a Natural Monument in 1987 and are part of Betancuria Rural Park.
They are centuries old and the oldest formations in the Canary Islands.
Many tourists are drawn by their size and how the ocean crashes against the rocks at the cave’sceneMarch, a 62-year-old British man died in San Esteban de Pravia in northern Spain after a wave knocked him into the sea.
