A body has been discovered in the search for a British man who vanished while swimming in the sea in Portugal last week, local authorities have confirmed.
The 23-year-old disappeared on Thursday at Peneco Beach in Albufeira, on Portugal’s southern coast, according to the National Maritime Authority.
Portuguese police announced late on Tuesday that a body, believed to be that of the missing individual, was recovered from the sea off Albufeira on Tuesday afternoon.
“Following an alert at 6.37 pm from a fisherman in the vicinity, officers from the Portimao Local Maritime Police Command, the Albufeira Volunteer Firefighters’ Humanitarian Association and the Albufeira Municipal Civil Protection Service were mobilised,” Portuguese police said in a statement.
“On arrival at the scene, members of the Maritime Police, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade, transported the victim to Albufeira Marina.”
A local Maritime Police official said: “Death was confirmed at the scene and, following contact with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the body was transported by the Fire Brigade to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Western Algarve.
“The British Consulate in Portimao was contacted and informed of the incident.
“The Maritime Police’s Portimao Local Command took charge of the incident.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.
A search had been underway for the missing man since last Friday, according to the National Maritime Authority.
The service previously said the 23-year-old had been accompanied by a 19-year-old British national “who apparently managed to get out of the water by his own means to seek help after which the other one disappeared”.
