Moment ‘mini-tsunami' sweeps SIDEWAYS across tourist beach injuring 8 injured as freak wave drags sunbathers over rocks
Freak waves dragged bathers towards rocks as they took a dip in the sea in the Costa de la Luz in Spain.
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A 60,000-ton cargo ship has been blamed for stirring the water and causing the freak waves to rip through the Spanish beach - but sideways.
Footage showed dark-coloured water speeding towards the beach before hitting a large rock in the water and rebounding back onto the sand.
A woman sunbathing on the beach could be overheard yelling: 'The rock, the rock,' as she scrambled to escape the wave.
Many people were hurt after they were smashed against rocks to the left.
The bizarre water waves, dubbed "mini-tsunami" by the beachgoers, left sunshades scattered over the sand.
A huge cargo ship - thought to be the one that caused the freak waves - was seen in the background.
One witness said afterwards on social media: 'It passed very close to the shore and caused a strong wave that swept several people away.
'People were literally thrown to the ground.'
Another blamed the cargo ship, saying: "It was a huge ship and then it caught the expansive wave like a tsunami, which absorbs the water and then expels it very forcefully.'
Watch terrifying moment massive freak waves batter Peru sweeping away boats & swamping seaside towns
One of the bathers hurt had to be hospitalised.
The woman, identified only as 28-year-old Rocio, said from her hospital bed: 'I've got a broken foot and I'm waiting to be operated on.
'I was coming out of the water with a paddleboard when the wave hit me from the left and knocked me to the ground.
'I couldn't see anything and got trapped under the board. I only found out what had happened and that a ship was to blame when I got to hospital.'
She told a Spanish TV station: 'I've got to have an operation on my foot and I've got a long period of rehabilitation ahead of me.
'It's the last thing I wanted at the start of the summer.'
An investigation into the incident has been launched, with local authorities trying to find whether the cargo ship had breached rules and came too close to the beach.
The local harbour master's office said overnight, a new speed limit in the area for this type of vessel had been set at 11.5 knots to avoid another "mini-tsunami".
Last year, massive freak waves swept away boats and swamped seaside towns in Peru.
Footage captured the monster swells battering the coast of the South American country on the Pacific Ocean.
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