Spain power outage 'blamed after British father drowns in front of family while on holiday'

Daily Mail​

29-04-2025

An Irish father has died while swimming off the Costa del Sol during Monday's 'unprecedented' blackout - as witnesses were left unable to help the stricken tourist because of the power cut.
Named only as Darren, the man, who is believed to be aged in his 50s, was holidaying in Torremolinos when the tragic incident unfolded in front of his son.
The family is said to have taken a vacation following the death of his wife just six weeks earlier, the Spanish Eye reports.
Due to the total collapse of Spain 's communications network on Monday, witnesses were unable to call emergency services and had to try and save Darren's life on the beach.
They said that by the time the authorities arrived it was 'too late'.
The unprecedented blackout sparked chaos across Spain and Portugal yesterday, as planes were grounded and phonelines and the internet were cut off.
Dutch tourist Menno van Oorschot recalled how he pulled Darren out of the sea.
It came after several British tourists who witnessed the incident sought updates on social media today.
In a Facebook post Menno wrote: 'The sea was very rough, and there was a very strong current. A rescue worker was nowhere to be seen because it's not yet the high season.
'As we sipped our drink on the beach, I noticed at first glance that someone was sinking in the sea about 80 metres from us.
'Quickly and without hesitation, I threw my things to Lindsay (his wife) and reached the individual in the sea.
'Along with many others, we brought the man onto the beach and began resuscitation.
'Unfortunately, all our efforts weren't successful. And the man sadly died.'
He said it suddenly dawned on him how important the internet and phones were to daily life.
He added: 'They couldn't call emergency services, and when the police finally arrived, the ambulance was alerted by the phone. All of this took a long time, too long...
'What touches me most is that the man we pulled from the water with his son and grandmother was on vacation to process the loss of the boy's mother, who had sadly died six weeks before the holiday… that hits me hard.
'The feeling of helplessness still lingers with me, even though I know we all did everything we could to save this man's life.'
Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said: 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance.
'As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of individual cases.'
It comes as the first fatalities from the blackout have been reported, with four people said to have been killed as a result of domestic medical ventilator failures.
A family of three were found dead in Taboadela, Ourense, La Voz de Galicia reported today as the grid managed to recover power across the nation.
Civil Guard officers said they found the married couple, aged 81 and 77, and their 56-year-old son this morning.
It is suspected they died from carbon monoxide poisoning during the outages, due to combustion issues with a generator installed to keep a respirator working.
A 46-year-old woman was separately reported to have died on Monday in the Valencian town on Alzira after her oxygen machine lost power during the blackouts.
Police in the east coast city said the woman, who was suffering from a lung infection, had stopped breathing and was unable to be resuscitated.
While power was recovered today, holidaymakers continue to face disruption and further uncertainty as they battle lengthy journeys home.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday that the government had set up a commission to investigate what triggered the incident, and refused to rule out any hypothesis.
'All the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again,' he told a press conference.
Spain's top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, said it was investigating whether the blackout was 'an act of computer sabotage on critical infrastructure' that could be classified as 'a terrorism offence'.