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Vol. 5 Issue 133 www.theolivepress.es June 13th - June 26th 2024
Not good enough! Expats and tourists demand better emergency services following deadly start to summer season
Something in the water! THE body of a huge shark has been found floating off the coast of Altea. The 4.61m female was discovered by a local shipping company, who called in experts to help retrieve it. Once back on dry land at Altea port, a Valencia University team came to take measurements and samples of the shark's skin and teeth. The animal is actually a Hexanchus griseus, the largest shark that inhabits the Mediterranean seabed and which can reach depths of almost 2,000 metres making it a fascinating beast to study for marine biologists. It's also a scavenger shark, meaning it feeds exclusively on dead animals.
EMERGENCY services have been slammed over their handling of one of the deadliest ever starts to the summer along the Costa Blanca. Over a 72-hour period starting on June 1, a total of five people lost their lives after getting into trouble at sea. That death toll has since risen to 12. This week, eyewitnesses told the Olive Press that authorities failed to act quickly enough, while one Brit blasted how a body was left lying on the shore ‘for ages’ in front of dozens of sunbathers. Belgian computer information specialist Rob de Langhe, 60, was at Cala de la Fustera on June 1 when a 48-year-old Moldovan man got into difficulty in the water. The lifeguard service for Benissa had not yet started for the summer and emergency services had to be
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called. Rob, a qualified rescue swimmer, joined two other men in going into the sea. “We battled for 20 minutes in heavy waves against the current to try to save the man, while policemen and emergency staff waited on the beach and were totally idle,” he told the Olive Press this week. “I could not believe that they just stood around and so what do you do? As none of them took any initiative, I decided to go in, after two other people on the beach went in.” Sadly all Rob and the other rescuers could do was recover the bather's body. Rob said that paramedics did nothing until he went to see them himself to be treated for shock and exhaustion. He added: “I hope what happened provokes a discussion about what should be done to improve the situation in such tragic circumstances. “Nobody with any lifeguard qualifications was present yet in nearby Moraira a lifeguard service started on June 1.” A total of 12 people have died in
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TRAGEDY: Body left lying on a beach show lifeguards are needed earlier, while (left) an empty watchtower drownings in Alicante province since the start of the month, including fatalities in Benidorm and Calpe.” It comes after one British expat said he was shocked after seeing a dead body lying on a busy beach in Alicante. Paul H was enjoying an afternoon walk near Playa Cala Capitan at the start of June when he saw the corpse covered by a sheet. Paul told the Olive Press: “People just looked and kept on sunbathing or walked past on the path above, all you could see was the person’s feet sticking out.”
the sea. Tragically, nothing could be done to save his life. The start of June saw a total of five drownings along the Costa Blanca. The first death was at Benissa’s Cala de la Fustera when two swimmers got into difficulty. Two people were spotted struggling Body in the water, including a 48-year-old He said a black van eventually came Moldovan tourist who was unable to to collect the body. be revived. Paul added: “There were around On the same day, a 50-year-old man four middle-aged men in the group, of Czech nationality drowned at La they looked like Brits. Marina beach in Elche. “There were three local police cars Two additional deaths were recorded and one from the Guardia Civil.” in Calpe and on the Orihuela Costa. Authorities had earlier received a re- Elsewhere, another woman, 72, died port that an Irish man, 76, had lost after being pulled out of the water consciousness after coming out of at Torrevieja’s La Mata beach at around 12pm. Last Thursday, a 68-yearold man died after coming areacostablanca.com into difficulty in the waters 966 112 428 off Roqueta de Guardamar del Segura, in what would be the first of four deaths in the same area. The next day, two men in YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENCY FOR CALPE, their 40s drowned there, BENISSA, MORAIRA AND REGION followed by a 77-year-old man on the Saturday. On the Sunday of the same weekend, an 18-year-old boy drowned in front of his friends in the waters off Benidorm. And on Monday this week, *Data extracted from process closure surveys after using our roadside assistance and breakdown services. a German couple, aged in See pages 5 & 13 their 60s, died off Playa de *Data extracted from process closure surveys after using our roadside assistance and breakdown services. Arenales del Sol in Elche. TheOlivePress-256x170-Multi2404.indd 1
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Opinion Page 6
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