The father who rushed to help two women drowning off the Oroklini coast has described his rescue attempts to philenews, saying the absence of a lifeguard at the beach cost the women their lives.
Antonis Gavalas was on an inflatable boat with his six-year-old son when he realised something was wrong. He said he took a man who could not swim onto the inflatable and headed to the spot, leaving the man and his son on the breakwater before going in to reach the women.
He found the first woman between the breakwaters and carried her to the rocks. He then found the second woman in the centre of the breakwaters and brought her out with the help of the other man.
A Coast Guard vessel that arrived could not get close to the rocks, Gavalas said, and a second vessel subsequently retrieved the women.
Gavalas said the water between the breakwaters reaches three metres in depth. He made particular reference to the fact that the beach’s lifeguard tower was not staffed at the time. There was no lifeguard on the beach, which is why he went, he said, adding that he believes the women would have been saved had one been present. “Breakwaters and lifeguards go together,” he said.
The lifeguard tower is due to be staffed from July 1.
The tragedy occurred on Thursday evening shortly after 19:00, when a group of five Somali friends entered the water at a beach in front of a hotel at the start of the Oroklini shoreline. Two of the women moved toward the breakwaters and were caught by currents. Their friends called for help, and Gavalas and another swimmer managed to bring both women to the rocks.
The JRCC activated the national search and rescue plan NEARHOS, deploying Coast Guard and Marine Police speedboats, a helicopter from the 460 MED of the National Guard, vessels from the Larnaca Airport rescue team and the Larnaca Lifesaving Club, and two SHSO ambulances.
The two women were pulled unconscious from the water and transferred to Larnaca General Hospital, where their deaths were confirmed. Both were aged 20 and were Somali nationals working in Cyprus.
An earlier eyewitness account published by philenews described how the women entered the water fully clothed as they are Muslim, and how a father spotted one of them raising her hand before alerting others and calling 112.
The exact cause of the women’s deaths will be established by post-mortem examination.
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