An 18-year-old male has died from drowning, and another is in serious condition in hospital, after they were dragged from the shore of a beach in Ancón, in La Orotava, by a large wave and struggled with currents to get out.
According to the Emergency Services Coordination Centre (CECOES), they received an alert just 6:00pm last night, informing them that young male bathers had been dragged out to sea by a large wave and needed urgent assistance.
When the emergency services got to the beach, they saw that two teenagers had managed to get back to the shore, and rushed to treat them. Unfortunately, they could only confirm that one of them was already dead and that the other was in serious condition.
Given the difficulty of access to the beach, the emergency services sent the Helimer helicopter to transfer him to the Tenerife North Airport where an ambulance was waiting to take him to hospital for further treatment.
The emergency services would like to warn people about sea conditions at this time of year, as even when it looks calm there can be a strong undercurrent and swell, and ask them to observe the flags on the beaches, particularly if they are red.