ARCHIVED - 80-year-old man dies at El Campello beach, Alicante, in latest heatwave tragedy

The latest Spanish heatwave has left more than 500 dead as temperatures reach record levels

An 80-year-old man collapsed and died on the shore of Muchavista beach in El Campello on Monday July 25, one of the hottest days on record in Alicante province.

More than 500 people have died this month due to extreme heat as the mercury continues to reach dangerously high levels.

The latest tragedy in Alicante happened just after 12.30pm at the popular stretch of coastline in El Campello after the 80-year-old was initially pulled semi-conscious from the sea.

The elderly man then collapsed when he was on the shore, prompting the Town Hall to "rule out drowning" in a statement.

The main hypotheses is that the pensioner suffered severe heat stroke, according to sources close to the family, as it was 37℃ in El Campello at the time of the incident.

Following his collapse, lifeguards performed basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation manoeuvres on the elderly bather until a SAMU ambulance and medical crew arrived.

Also read: Life-saving drone speeds up critical response times at Alicante beaches, Spain

Once on the scene, SAMU medics continued with advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other stabilisation techniques, but there was no response, and the 80-year-old, a native of Logroño who had a flat in the area, was pronounced dead.

A post mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of the death, but the local authority has pointed to "a health problem" and heat stroke rather than drowning.

Earlier this month, a 43-year-old man from the Faroe Islands suffered a heart attack and died whilst swimming in the sea at Elche's Arenales del Sol beach, and a Spanish man, 73, drowned at Poniente beach in Benidorm. They were the latest in a series of six drowning and near-drowning incidents in Alicante province in just 24 hours.

Each year safety awareness campaigns are launched across Spain to prevent drownings, but annual fatalities in the sea, rivers and pools continue to rise.

In fact, drowning was the third leading cause of death due to external or accidental causes in 2020, particularly amongst younger age groups, with 406 deaths in that year.

Image: Ayuntamiento de El Campello