Revealed: Holiday hotspot where you're most likely to drown

Updated
Holiday hotspot revealed as dangerous drowning destination
Holiday hotspot revealed as dangerous drowning destination



Spain has been named as a dangerous drowning hotspot for tourists.

A report by the Daily Star says that there were a total of 533 deaths by drowning – 143 of them foreigners – in one year in 2014.

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31 Brits were among those who died. Five drowned in Tenerife, nine in Andalucia areas such as Malaga and Almeria, and a similar number in Menorca, Mallorca and Ibiza.

Luis Miguel Pascual, a professor of aquatic rescue and founder of a charity devoted to drowning prevention, told the paper: "Studies point that foreigners and tourists have a higher risk of drowning than natives.

"When people are on holiday they tend to behave in a more relaxed way."

Figures for 2014 from Mr Pascual's charity, Escuela Segovia de Socorrismo, show 60 people drowned in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

An astonishing 47 people drowned in Alicante, 36 at Mallorca, 33 in the Murcia region, 23 in Malaga and 23 in Gran Canaria.

The Star's news report emerged just as a coroner ruled the deaths last October of British tourists Lisa Coggins, 35, and Tracey Aston, 32, an accident.

The friends had gone for a late-night swim and drowned at a Costa Brava beach when they were swept out to sea after being hit by 15ft-high waves.

Tracey had gone in for a dip first and, according to the Mirror, Lisa jumped into help her but got into trouble and also lost her life.

Their deaths were ruled a tragic accident at Birmingham Coroner's Court, which heard their bodies were found six hours after they disappeared, a mile and a half from where they went missing.



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