The body of a young French tourist was found in the middle of Xwejni bay yesterday, not far from where she was last seen struggling in the rough seas on Saturday.
Her distraught mother arrived on Sunday evening and was joined by her husband last night. They are now waiting for the result of the autopsy to be carried out this morning.
The body of Emma Yanicostas,17, was found by a rescue diver who was directed to the spot by a man familiar with the currents in the bay. He alerted the rescue team that the strong force of the incoming waves would have made it impossible for the body to be dragged out of the horseshoe-shaped bay.
The corpse was located at a depth of six metres, under the sudden drop in shallow rocks in the centre of the bay.
We could not jump into a sea like that. It was treacherous
The teenager is the second victim of the sea tragedy; on Saturday the body of Pierre Louis Berlatier, 53, was winched out of the water by an Armed Forces of Malta helicopter.
Ms Yanicostas was a friend of Mr Berlatier’s daughter and they were travelling together with two other friends.
According to eyewitnesses, Mr Berlatier’s daughter, Anais, was one of the first to raise the alarm when her father and her friend started struggling against the strong undertow and the emphatic wind.
The helicopter arrived on the scene 40 minutes after the distress call was made and the aircrew immediately spotted the girl with her face down in the water. “The aircraft came into hover and one rescuer was lowered into the area in very close proximity to the rocks. All of a sudden, the woman’s body went under and was never seen again,” an AFM spokesman said.
Shortly afterwards, the winchman noticed the man’s body and a second rescuer was winched down. The body of Mr Berlatier was lifted on to the rocks and CPR administered until he was certified dead by a doctor.
Some eyewitnesses said that Ms Yanicostas was still alive until about 10 minutes before the arrival of the helicopter and wondered why it took so long for it to get to Xwejni.
The AFM spokesman explained that the alert reached the Air Wing at 5.06pm and by 5.20pm the helicopter was already airborne, with two rescuers on board, and flying at 105 knots.
“It took the helicopter 20 minutes to arrive on site due to headwinds of 25-30 knots prevailing at the time,” he said.
Sources told Times of Malta that the AFM has only one helicopter on standby, with the second being operative at two-hours’ notice.
Marine craft could not be used in Xwejni as they were dealing with other search and rescue cases in the vicinity of Sliema, the AFM spokesman said.
Civil Protection Department personnel arrived at the bay about seven minutes after the distress call. A spokesman said that it was “next to impossible” to assist from land because the winds and waves were dangerously strong. “They tried various techniques including the use of ropes and floating devices,” he said. One of the rescuers was injured by the impact of a wave and was hospitalised.
Eyewitnesses said that last Saturday’s weather was akin to that experienced in winter, with waves reaching storey height.
More than 100 bystanders looked on as the tragedy unfolded. At one point, they tried to form a human chain to reach out to the girl but the waves were too strong.
“We are all shaken by what we saw but we could not jump into a sea like that. It was treacherous,” one witness said.