Rescue teams are in action to search for a tourist missing since late afternoon on the Lecco side of Upper Lake Como.
The man, a German national, never resurfaced after managing to save his children, who ended up in the water under circumstances that are still unclear.
This is the first reconstruction of what happened around 5 pm on the lake in front of Dorio, a small town in the province of Lecco near the border with Valtellina and Valchiavenna.
The tourist was on a boat and dived in to rescue the two children, but was swallowed up by the lake's currents and is still missing.
Tourists on the beach raised the alarm after seeing the man go under the water and never resurface. All available emergency units were mobilized to search for him.
Volunteers from the Bellano Rescue Service responded with a water ambulance and firefighters from the Bellano (Lecco) and Dongo (Como) units, who requested the use of the Drago helicopter. The entire area around the vessel was searched several times by the aircraft.
Shortly afterwards the divers also entered the water, at a point where there are strong currents and the seabed can reach depths that are prohibitive even for scuba divers.
Meanwhile, law enforcement has conducted initial investigations to reconstruct the incident. Based on what has been learned so far, the family of tourists likely departed from the nearby Como side of the lake, near Dongo , after renting a boat. The father apparently dived in to rescue his young children, managing to get them back on board, only to later lose his strength in the waves.
The reconstruction of the incident is still being examined by investigators, who are interviewing all witnesses.
(Unioneonline)
