Rob Horgan
A BRITISH nurse has slammed Marbella’s emergency services after three Turkish tourists drowned and a fourth has been left battling for his life.
Zatysha Charlemagne, 24, who performed emergency CPR on the men, criticised both the time it took for an ambulance to arrive and a lack of warnings at La Venus beach on Monday.
The A&E nurse, who is on holiday in Marbella, almost certainly saved the life of one of the students, while two other British tourists risked their lives to pull the men from the water.
Charlemagne, from Luton, told the Olive Press she was ‘shocked’ that it took at least 10 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and there were no lifeguards on duty, nor warning flags in evidence.
“I was very shocked it took so long for the emergency services to respond,” she told the Olive Press last night.
“When they did arrive, I couldn’t believe that only one police officer jumped in the sea.
“The others just stood there and watched.”
She added: “When the first guy was pulled out he didn’t have a pulse.
“I got an input from him after performing CPR and I placed him in the recovery position.
“The ambulance then arrived and I helped them to perform CPR on the others but sadly they died.”
Another eyewitness, an Irish tourist called Cait, also slammed the emergency services insisting the response was ‘not good enough’.
“It is incredible that it was left up to other sunbathers on the beach to rescue these men,” she said.
“Marbella must know this is a very busy beach and they should be better prepared.”
The British tourists had been alerted to the situation by another Turkish student when his friends got caught up in the strong currents.
The deceased were later identified as a 30-year-old teacher and two students, aged 18 and 19, who were visiting the Costa del Sol from a deaf college in Turkey.
Emergency services received the first call at 15.22.
In the off season most Spanish beaches don’t have lifeguards.
However a member of the town’s Protección Civil, a group set up to monitor beaches and events, said the undertow was well known at La Venus beach and more should have been done to prevent the tragedy from occurring.
“There should have been a red flag stopping these men from entering the water,” said Salvador Martin, who has 40 years experience working with the group’s diving section.
“They should never have been allowed in the water, there are many underwater tidal channels under the water that do not look dangerous but are.”
The Mayor of Marbella, Angeles Munoz, announced that an official inquiry will now take place and has declared three days of mourning.
To mis-quote Goethe (probably) “See Marbella and die”.