A MAJOR search operation has been launched to find a British man who has gone missing in a popular holiday hotspot.
The 23-year-old was last spotted swimming on Peneco Beach in southern Portugal with a 19-year-old man, also from the UK.
Sign up for The Jattvibe newsletter
Thank you!
The younger man ran for help after leaving the water Credit: Solarpix
He went missing from Peneco Beach in southern Portugal Credit: Solarpix
The teenager managed to leave the water without needing help, according to the National Maritime Authority.
But his companion is still lost at sea.
Expert divers and police officials are now desperately searching for the man after his younger companion called for help.
The 19-year-old is “physically well and does not require medical assistance” confirmed the National Maritime Authority.
‘SAFE & SOUND’
Missing Brit, 28, found safe after vanishing in Paris for two weeks
CLIFF TRAGEDY
Missing Brit tourist found dead on beauty-spot beach after falling off cliff
He is being offered psychological support following the disappearance of the 23-year-old.
The hunt has been called off overnight but will resume again early the next morning.
Multiple different policemen, maritime officials and volunteer groups are being pulled together for the major search operation.
The coastline will be scoured by lifeguards, the Port Captain, members of the “SeaWatch” Project and cops from the Maritime Police of Portimão.
At sea, searches are being carried out by “crew members from the Ferragudo Lifeboat Station and members of the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Albufeira”, the National Maritime Authority confirmed.
Officials from the Maritime Authority have contacted the victim’s family though the British Embassy in Portugal.
This time last year a Scotsman went missing in the same region in Portugal.
Greg Monks, 38, had been on a stag do at a party resort in Albufeira when he disappeared on May 29.
Six days later, his dead body was found at the bottom of a ravine.
He had become separated form the group and accidentally fallen down the rocky cliffside.
