A powerful wave dragged a group of swimmers out to sea while they were in a popular seawater pool along the rocky, western coastline of the Spanish island of Tenerife, leaving four died and one missing, Spanish authorities said Monday.
Crews recovered three bodies on Sunday – a 35-year-old man, a 55-year-old woman and another man – during a major rescue operation that used jet skis and helicopters to locate and pick up all those dragged out to sea. The fourth, a woman, died on Monday, a day after being revived at the scene and airlifted to a hospital.
Two of the victims were Romanian and two were Slovaks, their respective governments said.
The pool at Isla Cangrejo, on Tenerife’s Los Gigantes coast, is very popular with foreign holidaymakers, according to local media. Bordered by volcanic rock on one side and cemented off from the sea on the other, the pool sits at nearly sea level and can be very dangerous during rough seas when large waves can easily overcome the cement barrier.
Local media reported that a weather advisory for rough seas was in effect at the time when the swimmers were swept out to sea. One media outlet reported that the pool had been closed to swimmers since December 3.