A British holidaymaker has died in a suspected drowning after going for a dip in the sea at a Costa Blanca beach.
The 72-year-old was pulled unconscious from the water before arriving emergency responders made an unsuccessful attempt to revive him after discovering he had gone into cardiac arrest.
The tragedy happened around 3.30pm today at a beach just south of the town centre in the resort town of Guardamar del Segura a short drive from Torrevieja.
The Brit was the seventh person to die so far already this year on a Guardamar beach.
Bryn Thomas, from Southampton, was one of two men who lost their lives in June at one of its beaches called La Roqueta after racing into the sea to help two children aged six and seven who were in difficulties.
The tragedy happened around 3.30pm today at a beach just south of the town centre in the resort town of Guardamar del Segura a short drive from Torrevieja
The Brit was the seventh person to die so far already this year on a Guardamar beach (pictured: Hospital Torrevieja where Bryn Thomas was taken after he had got into difficulties in the water on a Spanish beach in June)
An inquest was opened into the 52-year-old’s death in Winchester at the start of July.
Mr Thomas died alongside a 46-year-old man from Poland who also went to help the youngsters.
Well-placed sources said they believed the unnamed Brit at the centre of the latest tragedy could have suffered a health problem prior to his drowning.
Weather conditions were good and the sea calm when this afternoon’s incident occurred.
Four of the earlier deaths in the municipality of Guardamar, including that of Good Samaritan Mr Thomas, occurred at the same beach of La Roqueta in just over 48 hours at the start of June.
The other fatalities included a 68-year-old Israeli and a German national.
Lifeguards are set to continue working in the area, where currents are known to be strong, until October 15.
Signs put up by the local council on beaches in English and Spanish warn bathers of dangerous ocean currents.
Earlier today it emerged a man found dead on Tuesday afternoon after going diving off the coast of Majorca was British.
He was pulled lifeless out of the sea by the Malgrats Islands, two uninhabited islets opposite the Bay of Santa Ponsa a short drive from the holiday resort of Magaluf.