A body has been discovered following a search operation for a 23-year-old British man who vanished while swimming at a popular holiday destination in Portugal.
The man disappeared while swimming in Portuguese waters last week, according to local authorities. Portugal's National Maritime Authority confirmed that the 23-year-old went missing on Thursday while bathing with a 19-year-old man, also from the UK, at Peneco Beach in Albufeira, on Portugal's southern coastline.
Portuguese police reported that a body, believed to be that of the missing man, was recovered on Tuesday afternoon off the Albufeira coast. The discovery came after a fisherman alerted authorities at 6:37 pm.
Officers from the Portimao Local Maritime Police Command, the Albufeira Volunteer Firefighters' Humanitarian Association, and the Albufeira Municipal Civil Protection Service were mobilized to the scene. Maritime Police, in collaboration with the Fire Brigade, transported the victim to Albufeira Marina.
A local Maritime Police official confirmed that death was declared at the scene. Following contact with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the body was taken by the Fire Brigade to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Western Algarve.
The British Consulate in Portimao was informed of the incident. The Maritime Police's Portimao Local Command has taken charge of the case. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been approached for comment.
The 19-year-old British national who was with the deceased reportedly managed to exit the water on his own to seek help, after which the other man disappeared.
