Tourist dies in Tenerife after falling into the ocean while taking photos
A 53-year-old man of Czech nationality died on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 10, after falling into the sea in the area of the natural pools in the Tenerife municipality of Puerto de la Cruz.
The victim, 53 years old, was rescued in cardiorespiratory arrest by the Emergency and Rescue Group (GES) helicopter.
The incident took place around 4:15 p.m., coinciding with high tide and with the flood alert and the pre-alert for rough seas.
The tourist was, apparently, taking photos of the area and due to the intense waves, one of these huge waves managed to drag him into the sea. The event took place during high tide on Wednesday afternoon and with the flood risk alert already in force along the entire Canary Islands coast and with the pre-alert in place due to rough sea conditions.
At 4:15 p.m. the Emergency and Security Coordinating Center (CECOES) 112 of the Government of the Canary Islands received a call alerting of the event. At that moment, a large rescue device was activated consisting of the helicopter of the Emergency and Rescue Group (GES) of the Government of the Canary Islands, a basic life support ambulance and another medicalized ambulance from the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC), a doctor and a nurse from the La Guancha health center, a Maritime Rescue vessel, agents from the Local Police of Puerto de la Cruz, the National Police and the Civil Guard and members of the Tenerife Firefighters Consortium.
Upon arriving at the indicated location, the rescuers from the GES helicopter located the victim in the sea, proceeding to his rescue and confirming that he was in cardiorespiratory arrest. Given this situation, they proceeded to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers during his transfer to the La Guancha helisurface. A basic life support ambulance from the SUC was waiting there along with a doctor and a nurse from the La Guancha health center.
After the aircraft landed, the primary care health personnel verified that the affected person was still in cardiorespiratory arrest, so they continued with the resuscitation maneuvers in their most advanced stage. After several minutes without being able to reverse the situation, they confirmed his death.
The Judicial Police of the Civil Guard was in charge of safeguarding the body until the arrival of the judicial authority.
The General Directorate of Emergencies of the Government of the Canary Islands recommends that the population take extreme precautions and not stand at the end of docks or breakwaters. Also, don't take unnecessary risks while taking photographs or videos near places where the waves break, especially during times of intense waves like it was during the past day in most parts of the Canary Islands.
