The young American Aian Patrick was sightseeing with a group of friends in Lanzarote when he lost his life. The North American had been living in Madrid for a while because he was studying in the Spanish capital and took advantage of his stay in the country to travel to the Canary Islands and get to know the island of volcanoes.
At 21 years old, very close to turning 22, the American and his three companions, aged between 19 and 21, decided to visit Los Charcones, natural pools located in Playa Blanca, marked as a tourist attraction on Google and which have become popular in recent years through social media.Despite its beauty and being an ideal spot for 'likes' on *Instagram* or *TikTok*, it is a dangerous area that has claimed the lives of up to three people in the last five months. In August of last year, 30-year-old Pablo Brieba died after drowning in these natural pools; last December, a young Italian fisherman who was rescued in cardiorespiratory arrest in the same area passed away.
Its dangerousness has not prevented its fame from spreading like wildfire, and it already has over 3,650 photographs on Google Maps and more than 1,300 comments. This place, according to the internet, is rated with 4.4 stars out of five.
A fence prevented car access to Los Charcones last Sunday, January 25. That Sunday, Lanzarote's coast was on orange alert for high seas, and the Directorate General of Emergencies of the Canary Islands Government had declared an alert for coastal phenomena.
The four young people decided to park their rental vehicle before the fence and continue their journey on foot. Before 3:00 PM, Aian Patrick and his three friends took off their shoes, according to the testimony provided by the 1,500 km of Coast platform, which works in the archipelago to raise awareness about drowning deaths.According to sources from the Security and Emergency Consortium informed *La Voz*, the four decided to take a dip in one of the natural pools that make up Los Charcones. It all happened in a matter of minutes. A wave swept the tourists out of the natural pool and into the open sea. Two of them managed to get out on their own and suffered some minor injuries after hitting the rocks.
After a report was received at the Emergency and Security Coordination Center (CECOES) 112, at 3:07 PM, a helicopter from the Emergency and Rescue Group (GES) managed to pull the third person out of the water. However, Aian was not so lucky and they were unable to locate him
For three days, a large emergency response team scoured the coast of Los Charcones to locate Aian Patrick, while the island was still on high surf alert. A drone from the Local Police of Yaiza, firefighters from the Emergency Consortium, Civil Guard agents, and air assets were mobilized in the area.
On the third day, when the sea conditions allowed, a Maritime Rescue boat and two teams from the Civil Guard's special underwater activities group (GEAS) joined the search. Civil Protection from Yaiza and La Oliva, on the neighboring island of Fuerteventura, also joined.
Finally, the Civil Guard divers managed to locate a body. Everything seems to indicate that it is the body of the young American, who had not surfaced because he had become trapped in an underwater cave. The body was found twenty meters from the area where he fell into the sea and at a depth of thirteen meters.
The Civil Guard patrol boat was responsible for transporting the body to the port of Marina Rubicón. Once there, it is awaiting the arrival of his family from the United States on Thursday to confirm his identity
From the Canary Islands platform 1,500 kilometers of Coast, it is reported that in the 28 days of 2026, a total of five people have died on the beaches and natural pools of the Canary Islands. In addition, three others are in serious condition and another eight were injured and rescued. "Practically all those who have died so far have been victims of a wave and almost all of them were tourists," he concluded.