Lifeguards spend much of Tuesday on rescues due to strong currents
In just three hours, lifeguards rescued four bathers in Portitxol and another seven who were kayaking and had difficulties.
Wednesday 5th August 2021 – ÁLVARO MONFORT with Mike Smith
The lifeguard service of Cruz Roja de Xàbia experienced an intense day of rescues on Tuesday despite the fact that the yellow flag was flying on all the beaches and coves of the municipality (with the exception of the Arenal), a fact that should have been a wake-up call to the safety of all those who came to spend the day or practice water sports on the coast.
In just three hours, lifeguards rescued four bathers in Portitxol and another seven who were kayaking and had difficulties.
The run of incidents began around 1.00pm. The first call came from a group of friends who had hired three double kayaks and one single kayak who could not return to La Granadella due to the strong currents. The Cruz Roja deployed a search and rescue operation (in which the Maremoto jet ski company and a private sailboat were also involved) that covered the southern area of the municipality’s coast and the kayakers were found spread across different locations between Cap Negre and l’Illa del Descobridor. The young people, in their 20s, were exhausted by not being able to paddle on due to the strong onslaught of the currents, but they did not require medical assistance.
After this first incident, the most complicated rescue of the day took place at around 3.15pm in the southern part of La Barraca. A young man was trapped in the currents and two lifeguards had to take him to the buoy area where the support boat was waiting to evacuate him to land.
In this same cove, three other swimmers had to be rescued, fatigued due to the strong rip currents that occurred in the area. And, finally, a woman was taken to the hospital after suffering severe low back pain while participating in a nautical excursion near this same point of the coast.
Click below for the original article in Spanish
