Seven injured by a violent wave in a natural pool in Tenerife

Seven people were injured yesterday (Saturday), one of them seriously, after they were swept away by a large wave while bathing in a natural pool in Santiago del Teide on the west coast of Tenerife.

The six women and one man, aged between 25 and 57 years old, who were injured, mainly suffered blows from being thrust into the rocks by the wave and had to be treated for cuts, scratches, abrasions, and dislocations.

The most delicate case dealt with by the emergency services upon their arrival, was that of a 46-year-old woman with a severe head injury who was rushed to Hospiten Sur, as was a 25-year-old woman with facial injuries, and a third, a 35-year-old, with a severe blow to the head, for further treatment.

The rest of them had open wounds on their legs, dislocated fingers, and one had a minor chest injury, and they were taken to the Mojon Hospital del Sur by ambulance for routine observation.

The wave took bathers by surprise in the natural pool of Isla Cangrejo, which is protected from the waves by a concrete wall, but the high tide and the strong waves can turn it into a trap without people realising the danger.

NO LIFEGUARD AT THE NATURAL POOLS:
Sebastián Quintana, from the 1,500 km of Coast platform, explained that there are around 500 similar natural pools and bathing places in the Canary Islands, and almost 20% of the fatal aquatic accidents recorded this year occurred in this type of place, but it is impossible to have lifeguards at them all.

Quintana insists that one of the most common misconceptions is that the bathers believe that they are safe from currents in this type of natural pool. "When a big wave comes, the water level rises inside the pool and that mass of water will impact against the rocks, but from there it reverses its path to go back out at high speed, dragging everything with it. There is nothing the bathers can do as the force is so strong, and they are dragged by the rip current into the rocks or the walls”.

He also pointed out that another of the errors in this type of scenario is trying to reach the shore. “If the bather has not lost consciousness due to the blows against the rocks, he tends to swim towards the shore where he will run out of strength and his body will be impacted by the waves against the rocks. In this situation it is much safer to get away from the shore, allowing himself to be carried away by the current, so he can reserve energy and be rescued from the sea”.