The dad in his 50s died after getting into difficulty in the water off the Costa Del Sol – an eyewitness has claimed an ambulance took ‘too long’ to arrive because of Spain’s nationwide power cut
A dad has died on holiday in Spain after the nationwide power cut meant he could not be saved.
The Irish father, aged in his 50s and named only as Darren, had been swimming the water off the resort town of Torremolinos in the Costa del Sol when he got into difficulty. His struggle was witnessed by his son and a Dutch tourist on the shore, but when the second man attempted to phone the emergency services, he could not get through – because of the power outage that left all of Spain and Portugal without electricity on Monday. He was pulled from the water by the Dutch man, but by the time rescue teams arrived on scene to treat him it was ‘too late’, according to locals.
The family is said to have to have booked the holiday following death of his wife only six weeks earlier.
Writing on Facebook afterwards, Dutch tourist Menno van Oorschot recalled how he had been sipping his drink on the beach when he saw a man flailing his arms in the sea “about 80 metres from us.”
He explained: “Quickly and without hesitation, I threw my things to [wife] Lindsay and reached the man in the sea.
“Along with many others, we brought the man onto the beach and began resuscitation.
“Unfortunately, all our efforts weren’t successful. And the man sadly died.”
He said the tragedy made him realise just how reliant we are on technology, with the ambulance taking far “too long” to arrive because of the delay in getting through to the emergency services.
The incident and its tragic timing had left him with a feeling of “helplessness”, he said, adding: “What touches me most is that the man we pulled from the water with his son and grandmother was on vacation to process the loss of the boy’s mother, who had sadly died six weeks before the holiday… that hits me hard.”
A spokesperson for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they were “aware of the case” and “providing consular assistance”, adding: “As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of individual cases.”
According to Spanish media, at least four deaths have been linked to the powercut that hit the entire nation, neighbour Portugal and parts of southern France on Monday.
An older married couple and their son were reportedly found dead at their home in Ourense, northwest Spain, at noon the following day, with local reports suggesting they had died from using a faulty generator when their power went out.
The parents were aged 81 and 77, and their son was 56.
Local reports pointed to carbon monoxide poisoning as responsible for their deaths.
A woman also died on Monday night in her flat in the Carabanchel district of Madrid after allegedly using a candle to light her home after it was plunged into darkness.
Another 13 people in the complex were treated by paramedics.