THE drowning death toll has risen to 12 people within just nine days on the Costa Blanca as two more bathers died on Monday.
A man and woman- said to be related and non-Spanish- drowned at lunchtime at Elche’s Arenales del Sol and Carabassi beaches.
The beaches had green flags raised earlier in the day, but with sea conditions changing, it was changed to red.
ARENALES DEL SOL BEACH
The two bathers were pulled out of the water at 1.15pm in an unconscious state, and CPR was tried unsuccessfully.
The man was aged 66 and the woman, 64 years.
Municipal sources did not rule out that one of them suffered a heart attack and the other person tried to save them.
It has been a bad start to June, with four people -including a British man- dying within three days in tragedies at Guardamar’s Playa La Roqueta.
A British tourist and a Polish national lost their lives last Friday when they went into the sea to save two children, aged 6 and 7, who had got into difficulty.
Up to six people entered the water to help the youngsters who were struggling with the strong waves and current.
The incident happened at around noon on the stretch of the beach close to Calle Peru and the Hotel Casablanca.
Two ambulances arrived at the beach but paramedics were unable to save the lives of the British man, 52, and the Pole, 46.
Three people were taken to Torrevieja Hospital with non-life threatening conditions, while the two children were saved.
The previous day, a 68-year-old Israeli man drowned at La Roqueta and on Saturday, a 77-year-old male bather also drowned in the same area.
June began with five drownings in less than 72 hours.
The first death was on June 1 at Benissa’s Cala de la Fustera when two swimmers got into difficulty.
Two people were spotted floating in the water, including a 48-year-old Moldovan tourist who was unable to be revived.
The second person, 60, recovered after treatment from paramedics.
On the same day, a 50-year-old man of Czech nationality drowned at La Marina beach in the Elche municipality.
Two additional deaths were recorded in Calpe and on the Orihuela Costa on June 3.
The Calpe drowning happened at around 3.00pm on the Arenal-Boll beach with emergency services getting a report that an unconscious Belgian man, 82, had been pulled from the water.
Medics tried in vain to revive him.
Further south at Cala Capitan on the Orihuela Costa, authorities received a report that an Irish man, 76, had lost consciousness after coming out of the sea, and nothing could be done to save his life.
The death rose further on June 4, when a woman, 72, was pulled out of the water at Torrevieja’s La Mata beach at around 12.00pm.
Last Saturday, an 18-year-old man drowned in Benidorm between Cala Almadrava and Cala Timo Xivo.
