Two 20-year-old Somali women, both working in Cyprus, drowned on Thursday afternoon at Oroklini beach after being swept by currents between breakwaters. Their deaths have raised questions about understaffed lifeguard towers and the absence of warning signage at the beach.
The two women were part of a group of five. They entered the sea between the breakwaters, fully clothed. A civilian, Panayiotis Gavalas, responded by inflatable boat with his six-year-old son on board, picked up another citizen en route, and left his son and the other man on the breakwaters before pulling both women out unconscious.
“There is no lifeguard at this beach, which is why I went,” Gavalas told philenews. “If there had been a lifeguard, I believe the women could have been saved. Between the breakwaters the sea reaches three metres deep. Where there are breakwaters, there must be lifeguards, because there are currents in the corridor between them.”
‘They sank very suddenly’
Christina Tsene, who was holidaying nearby with her minor son, witnessed the incident. She told philenews the group of five women had entered the water with their clothes on and were in high spirits. Two went deep between the breakwaters while the other three remained behind. The three then began crying out to the others to come back.
“If the sea has currents, there should be signage — and large signage, so everyone can see it,” Tsene said. “We had no idea there were currents. At the very least there should be a notice saying do not go between the breakwaters. These girls sank very suddenly. Something was happening in there, and they were also wearing their clothes.”
Tsene said her son had binoculars with him and spotted one of the women raise her hand. They immediately called 112 and then saw Gavalas heading towards the area with his inflatable boat.
Tower unstaffed — and lifeguards finish at 5pm
The beach had no lifeguard on duty. Even if the tower had been staffed, lifeguards’ working conditions require them to finish at 5pm.
Phileleftheros contacted the Larnaca District Local Government Administration, which is responsible for employing lifeguards, after receiving information that the tower had been due to be staffed from July 1. The paper established that the tower will most likely not be staffed this year due to a shortage of personnel.
Larnaca district has 19 lifeguard towers. The Oroklini tower and eight others in the district are currently unstaffed. Two further recruitment processes are under way and are expected to conclude within 10 to 12 days.
District supervisor Savvas Ioannou said the staffing decision is based on visitor numbers. “This tower, like the other eight in Larnaca district, is not staffed. We are focusing on other beaches to cover more hours,” he said. “In all probability, this tower and the remaining eight will not be staffed this year.”
Local Government director Antonis Economides acknowledged a chronic problem in finding lifeguards and said consultations had taken place to certify additional trainers through AnaD. He added that “the Interior Ministry has €2 million in this year’s budget for purchasing the appropriate equipment for lifeguard towers.”