A major search operation is underway in southern Portugal for a 23-year-old British man who went missing while swimming at Peneco Beach, after his 19-year-old companion, also from the UK, raised the alarm having managed to make it out of the water safely.
The teenager was confirmed by Portugal’s National Maritime Authority to be “physically well and does not require medical assistance,” though he is being offered psychological support following his friend’s disappearance.
Expert divers, police and maritime officials have been mobilised in a wide-reaching operation involving multiple agencies. The coastline is being searched by lifeguards, the Port Captain, members of the SeaWatch Project and officers from the Maritime Police of Portimão, while at sea the search is being conducted by crew from the Ferragudo Lifeboat Station and members of the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Albufeira, according to the National Maritime Authority. The search was called off overnight due to darkness but is due to resume early the following morning.
Officials from the Maritime Authority have been in contact with the missing man’s family through the British Embassy in Portugal.
The disappearance echoes a tragic case from the same region last year. Scotsman Greg Monks, 38, went missing on 29 May during a stag party in the resort town of Albufeira after becoming separated from his group. His body was found six days later at the bottom of a ravine, having accidentally fallen down a rocky cliffside.
