Brit tourist drowns after falling on rocks and being dragged out to sea by wave on Menorca coastline stroll
A BRITISH holidaymaker has drowned after being swept into the sea by a wave during a coastline stroll in Menorca.
The 72-year-old was knocked off his feet on rocks near a landmark sea arch on the north side of Ciutadella bay called Pont d’en Gil.
Residents in a nearby apartment block called 999 after seeing him in difficulties in the water.
The sea currents took him further away from the coastline and he was already dead by the time firefighters in a dinghy reached him.
His body was taken to Ciutadella Port where he was formally pronounced dead.
The tragedy happened around 1pm on Friday.
An autopsy due to take place later today is expected to confirm the unnamed tourist died from drowning and not a blow to the head as he fell.
A strong easterly wind was blowing when the man went into the water.
He was thought to have been staying in a four-star hotel, just a five-minute drive away in Cala d’en Blanes.
Cops have launched a routine investigation co-ordinated by a local court but have not yet made any official comment.
Local police, coastguards, paramedics and Civil Guard officers were called to the scene as part of the emergency response.
Pont d’en Gil is a spectacular arch shaped by the strength of the waves which has been crafted into a natural suspension bridge.
Medium and small sized boats can pass through it.
Next to Pont d’en Gil there is an underwater cave well known by divers on the island, called Sa Cigonya.
It comes after an injured Brit woman was rescued after she was hacked by a boat propeller while diving off a Thai island.
Aimee Louise Bacchetta, 30, was paddling off the idyllic Similan Islands in Phang Nga province when she injured her leg on a whirring boat propeller.
The holidaymaker suffered a deep wound near her right Achilles tendon.
Crew from the speedboat Saracha called the Royal Thai Navy.
Medics were rushed to the scene, where they stopped the bleeding and transported Bacchetta to hospital after carrying her to shore.
She has since been released from hospital and is recovering from the ordeal.
Meanwhile, a 66-year-old Brit holidaymaker was tragically killed in a horror crash on his first day in Thailand.
He had recently arrived in the Southeast Asian country to visit his long distance Thai partner and friends in Chonburi province.
He went on a motorcycle ride with some pals to celebrate his arrival, but crashed into a traffic sign while turning at a U-turn slot near a bridge on the night of October 5.
The impact was said to have flung the Brit from his seat and shattered his two-wheeler.