Last Sunday, November 2nd, three friends were spending a day at Famara beach, in the municipality of Teguise. The three were visiting the island to celebrate one of their birthdays. The young men had been stretching on the sand until they decided to go for a swim. A few minutes later, they were caught by the current. Only one of them left the beach alive.
The sole survivor, a 49-year-old German man, managed to get out of the sea on his own and tried to ask for help unsuccessfully when he saw that his friends could not get out of the water. Two witnesses who were walking on the beach that Sunday tell La Voz that the events happened near the bunker, below the Bungalows de Los Noruegos and close to the only lifeguard station on the beach, and not towards the El Papelillo area, as initial reports suggested.
These same sources have assured that a surfer catching waves near the shore came across the body of one of the victims, a 37-year-old Romanian man, and placed it on his board, as reported by the Lanzarote Emergency Consortium. Several bathers, including one of the witnesses who wanted to give his version to *La Voz*, helped pull him out of the water.
Once on the sand, two doctors vacationing in Los Noruegos were the first to approach the Romanian swimmer and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him. In the area, there were several healthcare professionals spending the day on the beach, including doctors and nurses, and an off-duty Civil Guard officer.Meanwhile, as this witness has reported to *La Voz*, while the medical personnel were trying to revive the drowned swimmer, the rest of the users, about fifteen people, were gesturing wildly at a lifeguard vehicle to ask for help, without the Emergency vehicle paying them any attention. "The movie continues and continues to be a real horror movie," he continued.
That day, a medicalized helicopter from the SUC was deployed to the beach, which, after confirming the swimmer's death, along with agents from the Teguise Local Police, the Civil Guard, Emerlan, firefighters from the Lanzarote Water Consortium, rescue jet skis, and another helicopter.
Denounces the lack of beach security
"Many people throw themselves in with lifeguards thinking you have safety with them, and it's totally nonexistent," highlighted this user, who has denounced the **lack of resources and "disorganization"** of the beach's lifeguard team, managed by the Temporary Union of Companies Ebone Servicios Educación Deporte SL and Human Development SL. Ebone is a company with its fiscal headquarters in Murcia.
Meanwhile, sources from the Ebone Company have indicated to La Voz that they "comply with all the requirements of the concession" requested by the Teguise City Council and that "all their lifeguards have years of experience and the lifeguard course".
In this regard, witnesses to the death of the swimmer in Famara have indicated that at the lifeguard station "they have no resources, they pay them peanuts, and they have no training," while highlighting the lack of resources. Along these lines, a healthcare professional who intervened in the rescue of the first swimmer had already spoken out, denouncing the lack of resources.
From that day until Tuesday, a search operation was extended in the area to try to locate the other swimmer, whose body was found by some surfers on Tuesday afternoon. This other deceased was a 28-year-old Indian man.
These last two deaths on Famara beach have brought to light the possible shortcomings of the beach's lifeguard service.
