“The summer season has not yet opened, the beaches are not supervised, and there are no lifeguards dedicated to the beaches. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to bathers and beachgoers to be very careful when accessing the sea,” the captain of the Port of Nazaré and commander of the rescue operations, João Lourenço, told journalists.

João Lourenço also asked bathers to choose “beaches that they know, do not venture into areas that they cannot stand in, and if you do not know how to swim, do not go into the water”.

Two children disappeared at sea on Sunday afternoon, after allegedly bathing in Pedrógão, a beach that is not yet monitored at this time of year, announced the AMN, which began the search after receiving the alert, at 5:25 pm, through the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center.

According to AMN, the minors are 11 and 16 years old (the age has been corrected, however), and have Angolan nationality.

João Lourenço explained that the searches at sea are being carried out by the Navy ship “Viana do Castelo” and a maritime rescue boat from the Figueira da Foz Lifeguard Station with crew members from the Nazaré Lifeguard Station.

“We have a watercraft from the Leiria Fire Brigade on standby, a jet ski, to assist any victims,” said the captain of the Port of Nazaré.

An Air Force helicopter is also involved, which “is patrolling from below to the south, because the search areas have been extended to the south”, explained the operations commander.

On land, there are resources from the Vieira de Leiria Volunteer Firefighters, Leiria Firefighters and the Maritime Police “with two teams reinforced by ‘drones’”, said this official.

João Lourenço said that the drift reported by the Naval Command indicates that “the victims have a tendency to move south, which is why the search areas were extended to that area.”

“At the moment, sea conditions are relatively worse than yesterday [Sunday],” but the possibility of finding a victim remains, he said, adding that, “as time goes by, the perimeter is widened.”