Three dead and fifteen injured in a tragic day of sea accidents in Tenerife
Three people died and fifteen were injured on Saturday (8th November), during a series of sea-related incidents across Tenerife on a day of pre-alert for coastal phenomena, as confirmed by reports from the Emergency and Security Coordination Centre (CECOES).
The most serious incident happened at the dock in Puerto de la Cruz when a large wave swept ten people into the water. A woman died despite resuscitation attempts, while nine others were taken to hospital: three in a serious condition, four with moderate injuries and two with minor injuries.
Several of those affected were cruise passengers who had arrived that morning at the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and were on a bus excursion, according to Sebastián Quintana, president of the safety platform Canarias, 1.500 km de costa.
Earlier, at Roque de las Bodegas beach in Taganana (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), six French tourists were dragged by a wave after reportedly ignoring safety barriers along to shoreline. One woman was airlifted to Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria University Hospital with moderate injuries; four of her companions were hospitalised with minor injuries and another was treated at the scene. Local Police said none of the group were bathing, they were walking fully clothed along the seafront.
Video showing wave knocking people into the sea (Source: Atlantico Hoy)
At 2:02pm, emergency services recovered the body of a man at El Cabezo beach in Granadilla de Abona in the south of Tenerife. Despite efforts by lifeguards and Canarian Emergency Service (SUC) personnel, he was pronounced dead. Later, a separate incident at Charco del Viento (La Guancha) resulted in another man being airlifted to Santa Cruz, where he died from his injuries.
Quintana noted that in the ten years his organisation has compiled monthly drowning data, Saturday was “the most tragic day”, with three fatalities and fifteen injuries in roughly five hours on the same island. He added that around 65% of drowning and aquatic-accident deaths in 2025 occurred when people entered the sea or approached exposed shorelines during official pre-alerts or alerts.
Residents and visitors are urged to stay away from docks, breakwaters and wave-exposed areas, heed lifeguard instructions and take extra care at high tide.
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