A British woman has drowned after a wave swept her into the sea close to well-known caves on the Canary Islands.
The 32-year-old holidaymaker was one of 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 fisherman and an off-duty firefighter tried unsuccessfully to save the woman and another person ran off to a nearby village to find lifebuoys.
She was eventually pulled out of the water by a small private boat and emergency responders but by then 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 hospital.
All four were staying at the same hotel in Corralejo, which lies on the island’s north-east 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-year-old woman has died at Ajuy in the municipality of Pajara.
‘The alarm was received yesterday at 8.26pm, with the alert saying various people had fallen into the sea.
‘An emergency response was activated immediately. Three of those affected were able to get out of the water and the fourth, a woman, was rescued by officials from the Fuerteventura Council’s Emergency 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.’
Police could not be reached for comment.
Last year a 23-year-old woman almost drowned at the caves, visited by thousands of tourists each year.
The holidaymaker had reportedly ignored signs warning the area was out of bounds due to a storm.
It’s thought she and a 25-year-old man were taking selfies when a massive wave swept them both into the water.
The man managed to swim to shore, but the woman was unable to 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 said to be centuries old and the oldest formations in the Canary Islands.
Many tourists are drawn by their size and the way the ocean crashes against the rocks at the cave’s entrance.
In march a 62-year-old British man died in San Esteban de Pravia in northern Spain in March after a wave knocked him into the sea.
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