A body has been discovered during the search for a British man who disappeared while swimming in the sea in Portugal last week, local authorities have confirmed.
Search Ends in Tragedy
Portugal's National Maritime Authority reported that the 23-year-old vanished on Thursday while swimming at Peneco Beach in Albufeira, located on Portugal's southern coastline. Portuguese police announced late on Tuesday that a body, thought to be that of the missing man, was retrieved on Tuesday afternoon off the Albufeira coast.
"Following an alert at 6.37 pm from a fisherman in the vicinity, officers from the Portimao Local Maritime Police Command, the Albufeira Volunteer Firefighters' Humanitarian Association and the Albufeira Municipal Civil Protection Service were mobilised," Portuguese police stated. "On arrival at the scene, members of the Maritime Police, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade, transported the victim to Albufeira Marina."
Police Confirm Death
A local Maritime Police official commented: "Death was confirmed at the scene and, following contact with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the body was transported by the Fire Brigade to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Western Algarve." The British Consulate in Portimao was contacted and informed of the incident. The Maritime Police's Portimao Local Command took charge of the incident.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been approached for comment. A search operation had been in progress for the missing man since last Friday, according to the National Maritime Authority. The service earlier stated that the 23-year-old had been joined by a 19-year-old British national "who apparently managed to get out of the water by his own means to seek help after which the other one disappeared."
