Beachgoers in Spain formed a human chain to rescue a young boy and a man from treacherous waters after they were swept out to sea.
The young boy had been swimming at Peñón del Cura, in the Costa del Sol, with his four friends last Saturday despite a red no-swimming flag being raised.
His friends managed to escape the current and swim back to shore, but the boy struggled and was dragged out by at least ten metres into the water.
A man was also swept out to sea after he tried to swim out and rescue the child. The lifeguard at the beach then called for the formation of a human chain to rescue them.
The coordinator of the Mijas lifeguard service, Gonzalo Botta Veccia, said the conditions in the water had been dangerous all day.
“The east wind was blowing hard and the water rose almost to the wall, with barely any sand left,” he told The Sun.
“The red flag had been up from the start of the service. It was clear it was a bad day at the beach; there was great risk in the water,” he said.
Local media reported the man was treated by an ambulance, while the boy was discovered without injuries.
Mr Veccia said: “It’s common: children who aren’t aware of the danger. Even the father didn’t realise it was his child who was going to drown.
“After a scare like this, 90 per cent of people become aware of the danger of swimming under a red flag.
“It’s punishable by municipal ordinance. And even lifeguards, with training, don’t have it easy in these conditions.”
The chief lifeguard, who has a decade of experience on beaches in the area, said that his team had followed protocol from the beginning of the day.
In the last three years, drownings in the region have tripled, according to SUR in English. Up until August, there were 17 drownings in Malaga, Costa del Sol’s capital.
