Spanish rescuers search for British women missing after late-night swim

EMOTIONAL tributes have been paid to two tragic Birmingham friends who drowned in Spain.

The bodies of the friends were found six hours later a mile-and-a-half from where they went missing near the resort of Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava. We don’t know how the news will be broken to them.

A Mossos d’Esquadra spokeman said: There has been a few confusion over this but we can now confirm that two British women went swimming and got into difficulties. The weather and the conditions of the sea are very bad.

They had been taken to the neighbouring town of Blanes, the service added.

‘One managed to get out of the water and ask her friends for help.

“One of the girls returned but one did not, she got into problems in the water”.

“Then came a very, very big wave”. I warned them it was risky as the waves were 10ft high.

Mr Carbonell said it was the night watchman who raised the alarm, reporting the incident at around 4am. But two of the women ignored the warning.

Spanish rescue teams are searching for two women who are missing after going for a late-night swim in the sea.

The chief of police said: “There was a strong current”.

A spokesman for the local police force said the women had been on a night out before the tragedy.

“The three friends are still in Lloret and have all made statements about what happened”. And he warned that holidaymakers should be very careful of the sea, especially in rough conditions.

A third person who also went into the sea, was able to make it back to shore and reported her companions had been swept away.

“It was a sad day for the town”.

“Everybody says she was out there swimming – she wasn’t”.

“He saw them in the sea taking photos and then called the cops”.

“The family want to be left alone right now. Always laughing. She used to play with her children.’ He said the family did not have enough money to pay to bring Miss Coggins” body home.

A maritime rescue service helicopter spotted the bodies at sea about three nautical miles from the beach in Lloret del Mar, a popular resort a few 70 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Barcelona, where the British women were last seen.

A MOTHER from Erdington has been named locally as one of the victims of yesterday’s drowning tragedy on Spain’s Costa Brava.