“At around 10:28am, we received information via the District Aid Operations Command [CDOS - from Faro] of a pre-drowning situation on Prainha beach, in Alvor, when we arrived at the site, we already found the body of a 65 years old, while a 25-year-old has disappeared,” commander Rodrigo González dos Paços told Lusa.

The authorities then started the search to find the missing young man and placed operatives on the ground to work by sea and by land while awaiting the arrival of an Air Force helicopter that will join the operations, said the port captain.

For the searches by sea, which "rely on the help of surfers", the lifeboat and the watercraft of Ferragudo and the speedboat of the Maritime Police of Portimão were activated, the same source said.

Elements of the Maritime Police, the National Medical Emergency Institute (INEM) and the Portimão Firefightersare all participating in the incident, and “it was requested, via MRCC [Search and Rescue Coordination Centre] in Lisbon, the commitment of a by air, an EH101 Air Force helicopter, which has already been deployed and is expected on site,” he added.

The same source also revealed that, after the search had started, it was necessary to remove some of the operatives because they had to attend an incident that had taken place in a cave in Benagil, in the municipality of Lagoa, also in the district of Faro, where a man felt ill.

Asked about the state of health of the person who had fallen ill in the Benagil cave, the same source replied that "the case is still being evaluated".