A 17-year-old British tourist has drowned after diving into the sea at a red-flagged beach in Chania, Crete, despite a major rescue operation involving lifeguards, drones and Greek Coast Guard vessels.
The teenager was swimming with a friend when both began screaming for help in the rough waters. Six lifeguards rushed to the scene and managed to pull one of the boys from the sea, but the second was unable to be reached in time. Emergency teams launched an extensive search to locate him, deploying a drone over the water and dispatching two Greek Coast Guard boats and a maritime vessel to comb the area. His body was eventually found washed up near the mouth of the Kladisos River, around 100 metres from where he had gone missing.
A witness told local media the boys had ignored clear safety warnings before entering the water. “Despite the red flags, they decided to dive, defying the danger,” they said, describing how lifeguards and other beachgoers rushed into the choppy waters after hearing the boys’ screams. “They managed to get one of them out relatively quickly. The second one disappeared. Eventually the sea washed him up about 100 metres away. He was probably trapped at the bottom.”
Emergency crews attempted to resuscitate the teenager and he was taken to hospital by ambulance, but he had already died.
The tragedy comes just days after two friends drowned after being swept out to sea while napping on a beach in California. Harshita Nair, 21, and Mahial Sran, 20, were resting on Bonny Doon beach in Santa Cruz, known for its powerful currents and steep, near-vertical waves, when dangerous waters pulled them out to sea on 10 June. A frantic onlooker called 911 at around 5pm, prompting at least eight volunteer swimmers to dive into the crashing waves in an attempt to save them. One woman was airlifted by helicopter to hospital while the other was taken by stretcher to an ambulance. Harshita, a law student at UC Berkeley, died shortly after being pulled from the water. Her friend Mahial, who was due to graduate with a degree in Public Health from San José State University, remained in critical condition before passing away on Saturday. The pair had both attended Washington High School in Fremont, graduating just three years earlier.
