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Firemen prepare to carry the body of a 5-year-old girl that drowned along with her 65-year-old grandfather in the waters at Salgado Beach. Photograph: Carlos Barroso/EPA
Firemen prepare to carry the body of a 5-year-old girl that drowned along with her 65-year-old grandfather in the waters at Salgado Beach. Photograph: Carlos Barroso/EPA

British man and granddaughter drown in Portugal

This article is more than 11 years old
Grandmother survives after being given first aid by paramedics on Salgado beach in Nazare, north of Lisbon

A five-year-old British girl and her grandfather have drowned after getting into difficulties in choppy seas at a beach in central Portugal.

Local fishermen were reported to have pulled the girl, her grandfather and her grandmother from the waters off Salgado beach in Nazare, north of Lisbon, on Tuesday, but were unable to save the lives of the girl and her grandfather, who was 66.

Paramedics provided first aid to the grandmother – who was transferred to the Alcobaça hospital, from where she was said to be in a stable condition – but were unable to resuscitate the child.

Her grandfather was already dead when he was taken from the water, according to Nazaré Port Authority commander Albuquerque e Silva.

"The two victims, accompanied by the grandmother, went on a stroll away from the Salgado beach, which is under lifeguard surveillance, and it must have been during this period that they were knocked over and dragged in by the waves," he said.

The three victims were then spotted by two fishermen, "who pulled them from the waves and notified rescue services".

The girl's parents were on the beach at the time and were subsequently treated for shock, according to reports, which said that the alert was sounded shortly before two o'clock in the afternoon.

The deaths take the number of people who have drowned off Portuguese beaches this summer to eight.

A spokesperson at the Foreign Office said: "We can confirm the deaths of two British nationals earlier today in Portugal. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

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