Irish man drowns in front of his family on holiday in Lanzarote

Stock photo, Puerto del Carmen: Getty

An Irish man has drowned in front of his wife and children during a New Year holiday in Lanzarote.

Ciarán Brown, 44, from Dublin, reportedly entered very "rough" sea at the popular resort of Puerto del Carmen at around 4pm on Saturday.

He was pulled unconscious from the water, and lifeguards attempted to revive him at the scene while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

It is understood that red flags were up on the beach, warning bathers to stay out of the water.
He was on the Spanish holiday island with his wife, Celine, and sons, Ciarán Jr and Eoin.

A spokesman for Emerlan, the island's volunteer emergency service, said everything had been done to try and save the man, telling the Daily Telegraph: "The waters were extremely dangerous at the time, which is why the red flag was flying.

"It's a terrible tragedy. Our volunteers did their best to revive him while waiting for the ambulance to arrive but sadly they were unable to save his life.

"Our understanding is that he was on holiday and the tragedy happened in front of his wife and children."

The Guardian reports the Emerlan spokesman added: "A lifeguard tried to warn him not to go into the water by blowing his whistle because conditions were bad. When the red flag is up swimming is forbidden and going into the water is the swimmer's responsibility. Paramedics spent 40 minutes trying to save his life but he died at the scene."

According to the Daily Mail, the emergency services in the Canary Islands said in a statement: "We received a phone call telling us a man had been pulled from the sea. The team from Emerlan found him in cardiac arrest and tried to reanimate him.

"Our paramedics took over when they arrived in two ambulances. But they had no success and pronounced him dead."

It is the second tragedy for the family after they lost a son, Michael Brown, in an accident in 2009.

Friends of the family have been leaving tributes for Ciarán, who has been described as a "gentleman" and "one in a million".

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