A 53-year-old French tourist drowned and a 17-year-old girl went missing in rough seas off Marsalforn yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses in Xwejni bay raised the alarm after seeing the two swimmers in difficulty at about 4.45pm. However, rescuers were initially hampered by the strong northwesterly wind and three-metre-high waves.
Before the police arrived on scene, witnesses said off-duty officers were trying to co-ordinate a rescue plan from land.
“They even went in the shallow part of the beach to try to help,” a witness told The Sunday Times of Malta.
I’ve never seen Xwejni like this – except in February or November
“We all kept shouting and encouraging the swimmers to keep on swimming – there was not much else we could do,” he said.
Until the Armed Forces of Malta helicopter arrived, the only equipment the duty police could use were life-saving rings and rope; but the strong winds made any rescue attempt from land impossible.
Sources said at one point the young woman managed to swim back very close to shore but was then pulled out again by the strong currents.
Claire Dimech, who lives in Marsalforn, said both the man and the woman were alive by the time she arrived at 5.20pm.
“I could see the woman struggling against the current for a long time, but then they were being thrown against the rocks – and we could see them drowning,” she said.
The AFM helicopter arrived at 5.40pm. Within minutes, the man was winched up but was certified dead on site.
Until the time of going to print, the search and rescue operation for the young woman was still ongoing.
However, hopes faded as various witnesses said they last saw the woman’s body floating.
A Meteorological Office spokesman said the northwesterly wind was very strong – force six to seven – throughout the day.
“I’ve never seen Xwejni like this, except in February or November,” said a regular visitor to the bay.
Nick Debono said the local bathers were aware of the danger and stayed on land.
“It was very windy and you couldn’t even stand.”
A witness suggested the authorities should erect danger flags in bays in perilous weather “especially to warn tourists”.
Yesterday’s unseasonably rough seas took many swimmers by surprise. At Fond Għadir, Sliema, two young women were rescued by the AFM after they were unable to return to shore.
In May, a strong northwesterly wind claimed the lives of five French tourists after the small boat they were on was battered by rough seas. They were returning to their yacht anchored at Dwejra after having dinner in Xlendi.